Hinata and the Chocolate Factory
by Kiel667
Summary: You think you know the story...but chances are you've never read a version like this! Hinata Hyuuga loves chocolate but is too poor to buy any. Won't she be surprised when she's invited to the largest and most famous chocolate factory in the whole world!
1. 1: Here Comes Hinata

_Author's note:_

_Okay, here it is! My second fan fiction! More accurately, it is an adaptation of an already existing story. But believe me, you've never read the classic story like _this _before. I'd like to take a moment and say that I do not own the rights to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". It is the sole property of Roald Dahl and his existing relatives. This is a work of fan fiction, meaning it is meant in good fun and appreciation of the original material. Please don't sue me._

_Ah…feels much better now…let's boogie!_

**Here Comes Hinata**

This is a story about a young girl, the luckiest girl in the entire Fire country and maybe even the whole continent. Her name is Hinata Hyuuga.

Hinata was a Genin (or beginner ninja) from the Hidden Leaf village. Despite this, Hinata wasn't stronger, cleverer, or more powerful than other children her age. While her family was a well-respected clan in Konoha, Hinata wasn't influential, or particularly wealthy. In fact, she barely got enough to eat.

Hinata lived in a small, shabby looking apartment building in an equally small and shabby looking room. The apartment wasn't nearly large enough for a girl like Hinata, and life was extremely uncomfortable for her.

She didn't own a television or a radio. She didn't own an icebox or freezer. She owned very few appliances that give comfort to so many of us. Hinata slept on a mattress on the floor, which wasn't bad in the summertime when the weather was hot and balmy, but it was deathly cold in the wintertime. There wasn't any question of her buying new and nicer things, or moving to a better place. She was far too poor to do any of this.

You see, Hinata earned her money by taking ninja missions along with her teammates and their sensei as part of a three-man team. However, their payment was decided on who had contributed the most on the mission, and because Hinata wasn't as strong, or as fast, or more clever than her other teammates, she often earned the least. She didn't even have enough to buy proper food for herself. The only meals she could afford for herself were bread for breakfast, boiled bok choy for lunch, and bok choy or cabbage soup for dinner.

Hinata, of course, didn't starve. But working as hard as she did, it left a quite awful empty feeling in her tummy.

One would wonder, "Why would such a young and poor girl such as Hinata be living on her own? Hasn't she any parents to live with?" This is an excellent question. As I mentioned earlier, Hinata's family was well respected in Konoha. The Hyuuga clan was one of the oldest and most renowned families in the village. They were brilliant fighters and users of a bloodline limit known as the "Byakugan", a ninja technique that was very powerful.

Hinata was not considered the greatest in her clan though. She was, in fact, viewed as one of the worst. She wasn't skilled enough in taijutsu, she wasn't skilled enough with weapons, and even though she could use the Byakugan, she wasn't very skilled at using it properly.

It was for these reasons that her father and leader of their clan, Hiashi Hyuuga, felt that his daughter brought dishonor to the clan. Her father would not train Hinata or help her with her academy studies, simply because he thought she was "too weak". It got to the point that Hiashi Hyuuga forbid Hinata to live with the rest of the clan until she had grown stronger. This is why she lived alone in a small and shabby apartment with very little to eat. This depressed Hinata very much. Despite all she would do to improve her skills, her father was never impressed.

Her mood never improved much as she was hungry due to her thin, watery bok choy meals. She desperately wanted something more filling and satisfying than bok choy and bok choy soup. The one thing she longed for more than anything else was…_chocolate._

Walking to the academy or to her team in the morning, Hinata would see slabs and bars of chocolate piled up high in the shop windows, and she would stop and press her nose against the glass, her mouth watering like mad. Many times during the day she would see other kids or genins pull chocolate bars out of their pockets or bags and eat them greedily. _This, _of course, was _pure _torture.

As Hinata earned very little, she didn't have any money to spend on candy, but every pay she would save up whatever amount wasn't spent on rent or food. She would save it until she had enough to buy a whole bar of chocolate from a shop. When she bought one, she would eat it slowly, taking only a tiny nibble at a time. This way she could savour the wonderful creamy flavour of the chocolate for as long as she could.

But I haven't told you about the awful thing that tortured Hinata almost every day. It was far worse, to Hinata, than the piled slabs of chocolate in store windows or greedy children eating candy bars on the street. It was the most terrible, tortuous thing you can imagine, and it was this:

Located right outside of Konoha, visible right from Hinata's window in her small, shabby apartment, there was an _enormous chocolate factory!_

And it wasn't simply an ordinary enormous chocolate factory, either. It was the largest and most famous chocolate factory in the whole world! It was _Wonka's _factory, owned by Willy Wonka, the greatest chocolateer in the known world! Just beyond the Hokage monument you could see it's tall, iron gates. Its tall smokestacks rose high above the village, pouring out a wondrous heavy rich aroma of melting chocolate.

Hinata would leave her window open at night so that she could fall asleep and wake up to the fantastic smell of chocolate. She would arise and stick her head out of the window, taking deep sniffs of the gorgeous chocolaty smell.

Oh, how she loved that smell.

Oh, and how she wished she could go inside that marvelous factory and see what it was like.


	2. 2: Willy WonkaSan's Factory

**2. Willy Wonka-San's Factory**

In the mornings, after Hinata had eaten her meager breakfast of a slice of bread, she would collect her Leaf head protector and make her way down to the edge of the forest where she would meet her team. She would meet her two teammates and their teacher by the woods in the morning to either begin a mission the village had assigned them, or to train together to improve their skills. Lately, there had been no missions, so the team's meetings became training sessions with their sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai.

Yuuhi Kurenai was a beautiful young woman in her mid twenties. She had long black hair, brilliant red eyes, and creamy white skin. She was also very intelligent, knowing many things about wilderness survival and the best ways to sneak up on enemies. Hinata was often envious of her beauty and wisdom when she compared them to her own small and plain body. Her two teammates, Inuzuka Kiba (an energetic young boy who always carried around his small dog, Akamaru) and Aburame Shino (a quiet, somewhat scary boy who could control and communicate with insects) admired their sensei as well. The three of them were always eager to perform a mission together.

"Okay, listen up," Kurenai said to them that morning "No missions have been issued by the village elders today, so we'll continue to train in the forest" Her voice was feminine, but commanded a terrible amount of authority. Kiba shouted enthusiastically while Shino remained silent. Hinata, being quite shy, tried to ask a question.

"A-ano, K-Kurenai-sensei?" she asked timidly. "W-what kind of training will we be doing?" Her teacher turned to her and smiled.

"I'm not entirely sure…almost every day this week we've been without a task from the Hokage. We've been training everyday in almost every skill I can think of: ninjutsu, taijutsu, weapon fighting, kunai and shuriken practice, genjutsu, sneaking skills…I don't know what else to teach" she finished, a little flustered.

"C-Could we…" Hinata began "I mean, I-I'd like to hear about Willy Wonka-san".

Kurenai's eyes lit up. Hinata knew that Kurenai was somewhat of an expert on the fabled chocolateer. It was even rumored that she had _met _him once, as a child. Hinata also knew that Kurenai secretly loved chocolate almost as much as she did. Hinata remembered seeing her once with Anko (another Konoha Jounin) buying sweets together in a shop at night, and then watching them eat them as they strolled along the street. "Willy Wonka, eh? Have I not told you of him before?" she asked.

Hinata shook her head, as did Kiba. Shino didn't say anything.

"Is it _really _true that he's the greatest inventor in the Fire country?" Kiba asked. "Is his factory also the _biggest _in the country too?"

Kurenai smiled. "_True! _Of course it's true! He's the most _amazing, _most _fantastic, _and most _extraordinary _inventor of chocolates not only in the Fire country, but probably the whole _world!_ And yes, his factory is the biggest. It's about _fifty times _as big as any other!" She was obviously passionate about the subject. Her voice was filled with enthusiasm. "Would you like me to tell you about him?" she asked her expectant pupils.

All of them nodded, particularly Hinata, who never gave up a chance to hear of the famous man.

"Well," their teacher said as she sat down on a tree stump, the rest sat down as well "Sit down, and listen closely. Wonka-san is known as one of the greatest chocolate makers out there. Did you know, for example, that he himself has invented more than two hundred new kinds of candy bars, each with a different flavoured center, each far sweeter and creamier and more delicious than any of the other chocolate factories can make! His candies are shipped and sold all over the continent as well, even to the most powerful Kage's as well".

"Really?" Kiba wondered aloud, Akamaru barked in his lap.

"Really! Did you know he's invented a way of making chocolate ice cream so that it stays cold for hours without being in an icebox? You can leave it in the sun for hours and it won't melt!"

"That's impossible" Shino said at last, breaking his silence.

"Of course it's impossible!" cried Kurenai. "It defies physics! But Wonka-san has done it".

Hinata smiled at the idea of chocolate ice cream that wouldn't melt. "Wonka-san has invented many candies and chocolates that can do things no other candy maker's could. It's absolutely fantastic!" Kurenai paused and swallowed, running the tip of her tongue slowly over her lips. "It makes my mouth water just thinking about it" she said.

"M-mine too" said Hinata "but please, go on".

"Why don't I tell you about the crazy Raikage from the Lightning country" Kurenai said at last "You'd like that. His name was…" Kurenai flustered a bit, looking deep in thought.

"Sensei?" Hinata asked.

"You know," she said at last "I'm not really the best one to tell the story. I believe Kakashi-sensei is the one who knows it best…he and team 7 should be finished by now. Would you like to hear it?"

All of her students nodded.

"Alright, I guess we could postpone training for the day, this is something worthwhile to hear" She stood up and gathered their things. They got ready to go. "Let's go track Kakashi down".


	3. 3: WonkaSan and the Raikage

**3. Kakashi's Tale of the Wonka-San and the Raikage**

Hinata followed her teacher's lead and walked along with her team down the street. Kurenai mentioned that Kakashi's team 7 often met down by the bridge. Hinata felt a flutter of nervousness about meeting with team 7. She had known its members from their days in the ninja academy. She got along well with Haruno Sakura, she didn't really know Uchiha Sasuke all too well, the problem laid squarely with the team's third member: Uzumaki Naruto.

Ever since she had been little, Hinata had the biggest crush on Uzumaki Naruto. She would watch him silently from her desk during classes, wondering what he was thinking about. She would often follow him around from a distance, watching him play with the other boys from the academy. There was something about Naruto that made Hinata feel like she wasn't as weak as her father said she was. Subsequently, every time she approached Naruto she had the most difficult time speaking to him. Her speech would become mumbled and she would stutter (at least, stutter more than usual). She swallowed hard as they approached the bridge.

Sure enough, Kakashi's team 7 was there in full force. Sasuke stood near Sakura, the two of them talking awkwardly to each other. Naruto, sure enough, gave a big wave as their team approached. Kakashi stood directly ahead; we wore a green Konoha flak jacket with his head protector covering one eye. A mask obscured most of his face. "Oi, Kurenai. What brings you here?" he asked.

"Kakashi, I hope we're not troubling you, there's something I'd like to ask" Kurenai said. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? We're quite finished for today. What is it you'd like to ask?"

Kurenai smiled. "My team…well, so would I, we'd like to hear the story of Willy Wonka and the Raikage".

"Oh ho _ho…_really…" Kakashi mused, a grin visible through his mask. "Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto…have I ever told you this story?" he asked his team.

"Eh, no you haven't" Sakura said.

"Willy Wonka…wasn't he that chocolate guy?" Sasuke asked confused.

"Uwwey! You know a story about Wonka-san!" Naruto asked excitedly. Hinata was surprised to see he liked the chocolate master as well. She smiled a bit.

"Hai…Kurenai's talking about the old Raikage of the Lightning Country, Tsukioka Heiji" Kakashi said with a bit of a laugh. "Let's get someplace more comfortable and I can tell you the whole tale.

"Tsukioka Heiji wrote a letter to Wonka-san" Kakashi said. They were all sitting at a tea stand relaxing as Kakashi spoke to them. "And asked him to come all the way to the Lighting country to build him a colossal castle entirely out of chocolate".

"Sugoi! Did Wonka-san do it?" Naruto asked quickly.

"He did indeed. When I was younger, even before I was made an ANBU, I saw it with my own eyes, and what a place it was" Kakashi said dreamily, a smile on his face.

"You actually saw the castle!" Sakura asked.

"Very briefly, but it was magnificent, and true to Wonka's word, it was made entirely out of chocolate. It had one hundred rooms, and it was all made of either light or dark chocolate. The bricks were chocolate, the cement holding them together was chocolate, and the windows were chocolate, so were the carpets and the pictures and the furniture and the beds!

"When he had finished it, Wonka-san said to the Tsukioka, 'I warn you, it won't last long. You'd better start eating it right away.'

"'Nonsense!' shouted the Raikage. 'I'm not going to eat my wonderful castle! I'm going to _live _in it! Then the other countries will see what luxury a true shinobi power can afford!'

"But Wonka-san was right, of course, because soon after this, there came a very hot day. The entire castle began to melt around Tsukioka. It sank slowly to the ground, and the Raikage found himself swimming in melted chocolate trying to escape".

Hinata sat on the edge of her seat, enthralled by the story. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, is all that really true? It sounds like you're making it up," Naruto said skeptically.

"It's true!" Kurenai said, taking a sip of her tea. "Why would we make something like that up? It's absolutely true!"

"I'll tell you something else that's true," Kakashi said. All six of the genins (and Kurenai) leaned in to hear him. Kakashi lowered his voice to a soft, secret whisper. "_Nobody…ever…comes…out!_"

"O-out of w-where?" Hinata asked timidly.

"_And…nobody…ever…goes…in!_"

"In _where!_" cried Naruto.

"Wonka's factory of course!" Kakashi said.

"K-Kakashi-sensei, what d-do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"I mean workers, Hinata, workers"

"W-workers?"

"All factories," Kurenai spoke up "have workers that operate the machines. They come in to work in the mornings and leave at night. However, the gates of Wonka's factory…are always closed now. No one is ever seen going in or out".

"But there must be people working there! Wonka's candy is still being made, isn't it?" Sakura said.

"It's one of the biggest mysteries about that factory…_who's been running it since it closed?_" Kurenai said mysteriously.

"Closed? When did the factory close?" Naruto asked, a confused look on his face.

"Ah, Kurenai, all of the kids are too young to remember…it happened when we were younger…about your age in fact" Kakashi said to his fellow teacher. Kurenai looked up from her drink, her eyes wide.

"That's true," she turned to the genins "When we were young, when Wonka-san's giant factory was first built in the Fire country, there were hundreds, _thousands _of workers there. Then one day, Wonka-san asked all of them to leave. He said 'I'm closing my factory forever…sorry. You must all leave and never come back'".

"But why?" Naruto asked.

"Because of spies…shinobi" Kakashi said in a low voice.

"Spies?"

"Hai…other chocolate makers grew jealous of Wonka-san's huge success. They hired spies and shinobi to sneak into his factory and steal his secret recipes. Soon the other candy makers began to sell candies that were just like Wonka's! Wonka-san said he was ruined, and told his workers to leave, and shut his gates to everyone. He shut down and closed the factory".

"But the factory isn't closed now…it's still going. Smoke still comes out of the smokestacks. It didn't close forever" Kiba said suddenly.

"Yes," Kakashi said "Months later, the factory opened again. Smoke billowed out of the smokestacks again. All of the workers ran back to get their jobs back…but the gates were still closed, the factory doors locked".

"Then…then who's running the machines?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Ah…nobody knows…it's a complete mystery. The only thing that comes out of that place…is the candy".

"Hasn't anybody asked Wonka-san?" Hinata pressed again.

"Nobody sees him anymore…he's locked himself up in that factory…" Kakashi continued.

Kurenai sighed, a warm and happy look spread across her face. "Hmmm…but remember how happy we were when we found out the factory was open again?" she asked Kakashi, who nodded. "I remember going to the shop and buying one of the first new Wonka bars that the factory made. It was sweet and creamy…exactly the way they were before the place closed…maybe even better" Kurenai looked as if the memory was sheer bliss. Hinata couldn't remember seeing her sensei ever looking like that.

"Well, chances are it'll probably remain a mystery for a long time…" Kakashi said, standing. "Well, the afternoon is passing by. I've got to make a report to Hokage-sama. I'll see you all later" then, with a wave, Kakashi made his leave.

"Ja ne" Kurenai yelled as he left. She too began to stand; a signal that today's training session was probably over.

"W-what I wouldn't give…" Hinata said at last "To go inside that wonderful factory".

Naruto looked at her and smiled. "I bet it's an amazing place," he said, grinning at Hinata, which caused her to turn a bright shade of red.


	4. 4: The Golden Tickets

**4: The Golden Tickets**

The following day Hinata rose from bed with a strange stuffy feeling in her nose and a chill down her spine. She shivered. She looked and noticed that her open window must be the culprit. The air was much colder than it had been the few mornings before. She reluctantly shut the window, feeling bad about not waking up to the pleasant smell of chocolate. She dressed, ate, and headed out onto the street.

As she headed down towards the forest, she noticed a large crowd of people congregating around a telephone pole, as if it was some sort of item of importance. The crowd muttered excitedly. Hinata walked over to discover what all of the commotion was about. She asked a nearby woman. "It's unbelievable! Fantastic!" she said breathlessly. Hinata pushed through the crowd to see a large poster plastered to the pole. This is what is said:

**DEAR PEOPLE OF THE WORLD,**

**I, WILLY WONKA, HAVE DECIDED TO ALLOW**

**FIVE CHILDREN INTO MY FACTORY THIS YEAR **

**FOR ONE DAY!**

**FIVE GOLDEN TICKETS**

**HAVE BEEN HIDDEN UNDERNEATH THE ORDINARY**

**WRAPPINGS OF FIVE ORDINARY WONKA BARS. **

**THE FINDERS OF THESE GOLDEN TICKETS WILL**

**BE THE ONES ALLOWED INTO MY FACTORY AND**

**BE GIVEN A LIFETIME SUPPLY OF CANDY! **

**ONE OF WHICH WILL WIN AN EXTRAORDINARY**

**PRIZE! GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU!**

**SIGNED, WILLY WONKA.**

Hinata's heart skipped a very large beat. Once she had finished reading the poster, she dashed off to find her teammates to tell them the spectacular and amazing news. Upon finding them, Hinata was out of breath and quite exhausted. Despite this, she tried her best to explain the wondrous predicament.

"W-W-Wonka (gasp) giving a-a-away (wheeze) golden tickets (gasp) f-f-f-factory (huff) lifetime supply (puff) ordinary w-w-Wonka bars (gck)" she managed.

"H-Hinata, slow down! You're not making any sense!" Kurenai said, trying to calm her "Now…calm down, take a deep breath, and tell us what's the matter".

Hinata told them word for word what the poster had said. Everyone in the team (except Shino) gawked at her in astonishment.

"Candy for _life!_" Kiba shouted, "That's insane! The man must be mental!"

"You mean there are Golden Tickets hidden in Wonka bars right now?" Kurenai asked.

"_Arf Arf!_" Akamaru exclaimed.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful, Hinata, to open a bar of candy and find a golden ticket inside?" Kurenai asked excitedly "Being able to go into his factory…just imagine. You'll be going for it, won't you Hinata?" she asked.

Hinata gave a sad sort of smile, the truth dawning on her. "I'd love to…I've dreamed about it for years…but…I can't afford candy bars…I barely get one every few months".

"Hey," Kurenai said, lifting up Hinata's chin "Even one bar might have it. You've got just as much a chance as anybody else"

Kiba made a disapproving noise.

"Gomen-ne, Kurenai-sensei, but Hinata doesn't have a chance" Kiba said "The kids who'll find those golden tickets will be the ones that can afford to buy chocolate bars everyday. I promise you, the first kid who finds a ticket is going to be a total fatass!"

Akamaru 'arffed' at Kiba's joke, seeming to think it was funny.

In fact, Kiba's joke turned out to be quite correct indeed. The following day the first golden ticket was found. The finder was a girl named Yoriko Glupu, and Asuma's morning newspaper carried a large picture of her on the front page. The picture showed a young girl who looked to be about Hinata's age who was so enormously fat; she looked like an over-inflated beach ball. Great, flabby folds of fat bulged out from every part of her body and her face was like a monstrous ball of dough with two little piggy eyes peering out upon the Fire Country. The city in which Yoriko lived, the newspaper said, had given its citizens a holiday from school and work in honour of the now famous youth.

Kurenai had borrowed the paper from Asuma that morning and was now reading the article aloud for her teammates to hear.

" 'I just knew Yoriko would find a golden ticket' her mother had told the newspapermen. 'She eats so many candy bars a day, it was almost impossible for her not to find one!' One reporter asked 'Yoriko, how did you celebrate your finding of the golden ticket?' to which Yoriko responded in a sweet little voice that seemed unnatural for her size 'I went and ate more candy!' as she said this she stuffed a large piece of a chocolate bar into her mouth. 'What a thrill it will be for Yoriko-chan to visit Wonka-san's factory. We're just so proud of our daughter!'".

"Kurenai-sensei, yamete! What an awful woman!" Kiba shouted, disgusted with the article. Akamaru growled, showing his mutual disgust.

"That girl, Yoriko Glupu, she's quite repulsive" Shino added. For once, Kiba completely agreed. "What'd I tell you? I told you she'd be a total fatso!" Kiba added.

"Yes, well…there are many sins in the world. This particular child is guilty of Gluttony, the sin of overindulgence in food. No good ever comes from children committing such sins…it's horrible," Kurenai said, folding up the paper.

"T-There's only four tickets left…" Hinata said quietly "I wonder who will find those?"

"Now that they've found one…things will really start to get crazy" said Kurenai.

Kurenai couldn't be more right. Now the Fire country, indeed, the whole world seemed suddenly to be caught up in a crazy, candy buying spree, everyone searching frantically for the remaining golden tickets. Children and adults alike were going into shops and buying ten or twenty Wonka bars at a time, then tearing their wrappers off on the spot, searching for a glimmer of gold. Reports of people finding tickets cropped up everywhere, but they all were unmasked as clever fakes. One ninja in the Sunagakure (Hidden Sand) claimed he had invented a ninja technique that allowed him find a Wonka bar with a golden ticket inside without opening it. When he performed the jutsu, however, it made the gold fillings of a nearby woman to explode. There was an ugly scene when Suna's shinobi police arrived to arrest the man for using such a dangerous jutsu.

Suddenly, a few days later, it was announced on television that the second golden ticket had indeed been found. Hinata was with her teammates pulling weeds out of a villager's garden (a mission assigned by the Hokage, seeing how team 6 was out of work) when the owner of the house invited them inside to see the news report.

The lucky person was a short boy named Masaru Kawasaki, the son of a Rice country noble. The television showed the boy, who wore an expression of pure arrogance, sitting with his father in their royal mansion. The boy held out the golden ticket with a hand to show the camera.

Masaru's father, the famous Hito Kawasaki, explained how the ticket was found. "You see," he said "I am the owner of the largest rice plantations in the entire country. As soon as my son told me he _must _have one of these ticket things I went into town and bought up all the Wonka bars I could find. Entire storehouses of them! I had the bars delivered to my plantation site. You see, I have over a hundred women working for me, harvesting the rice. That's what they do all day long, harvest rice for sale to the commoners. So I say to them, 'Attention! From now on the rice collecting is postponed until further notice. I want all of you to instead tear the wrappers of these candy bars! The one who finds a ticket will receive their freedom!' And they did. They worked feverishly for days to find that ticket, but at first, there was no luck" The man's expression changed to one of shame "Oh it was terrible! My little Masaru-kun got more and more upset each day. He would scream, _"Where's my golden ticket! I want my golden ticket!" _and he would lie for hours on the floor, kicking and screaming terribly! I hated to see my beloved son unhappy like that, so I ordered my women to double their efforts or they wouldn't get another meal. Finally, on the evening of the fourth day, one of my workers yelled, "I've got it! A golden ticket!" and I said "Give it to me quick!" and she did. Then I rushed and gave it to my son"

One of the reporters asked, "How is the worker who found the ticket? Did you give her the freedom you promised?"

Hito Kawasaki only laughed.

"Of course not, you fool! I need all the workers I can get to finish the rice harvest. We lost a good deal of time trying to find the ticket!"

"Dear god! He's even worse than the fat girl!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Horrible father, using his poor workers like that, the nerve!' The woman said indignantly. She switched off her television.

"Despicable," Kurenai said at last, her temper flaring "Greed…the origin of all other sins. Both the boy and that man are simply evil!"

"I don't think it was fair," Hinata piped up "The boy didn't actually find the ticket himself…and those p-poor workers".

Kurenai sighed, "Well, our mission is complete. May we collect our payment please?" Kurenai asked politely of the woman who owned the garden.

"Oh, of course," she said reaching for her purse "You did such a marvelous job. Truly worthy of Konoha shinobi" she handed Kurenai a handful of ryou bills. As the team exited, the woman stopped Hinata and placed something in her palm.

"For you, you did such a wonderful job. Go to the store and buy one of those candy bars. Win a golden ticket and do our village proud!" The lady smiled toothily. Hinata walked over to join her teammates; she opened her palm on the way, revealing a hundred ryou piece! The perfect amount to buy, as the woman said, a candy bar.

"K-Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata called after her "B-before we go home, l-let's stop by the shop. There's something I'd like to do".

Kurenai smiled and motioned to Kiba and Shino. "Alright, we'll head down there together. Let's go!" And with that, the three-man team and their teacher made their way to the shop in the fading light of dusk.


	5. 5: Two More Tickets Found

**5: Two More Tickets Found**

The soft clang of a little bell announced the entrance of Hinata and her team into the shop. The shop was lit by the soft, yellowish glow of hanging light bulbs, giving it a very friendly feel to it. The shopkeeper stood behind the counter reading a newspaper (the front page adorned with a grisly photo of Masaru Kawasaki). He looked past his paper to meet Kurenai's red eyes. "Oh, Kurenai-san, what brings you and your students into my lovely shop at this hour? Finished with shinobi missions for the night?" he chuckled. The shopkeeper, a particularly large man, shook as he laughed. Kurenai nodded and gestured towards Hinata.

"Oh? And what can I do for you kunoichi-chan?" the shopkeeper said, looking down at Hinata. Hinata fumbled with her words.

"A-ano…I'd like a W-Wonka bar, kudasai" she said at last.

The shopkeeper's face fell. "You would, would you? Well, so does every kid in the entire village! I've sold more candy bars in the last week alone than I think I've _ever _sold! I've only got a couple left, which would you like?"

Hinata thought for a moment, trying to recall which bar had tasted the best the last time she bought one. It was difficult to remember, as it had been quite a while since she'd last bought a candy bar.

"O-one Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, kudasai"

"Ooh, good choice. I think we have one left" the shopkeeper turned around and rummaged through a drawer. Obviously he had been keeping the Wonka bars hidden as of late. He turned around again and handed Hinata the bar. It had a red wrapper that had the "Wonka" logo in large, white letters on the front. It was wrapped in silver foil. "Well, enjoy! Have a good night Kurenai-san, and good luck on finding a ticket little girl" the shopkeeper said as they exited.

"Hinata, let's open it" Kurenai said as they stood outside of the shop. "I want to see if you've won!"

"Kurenai-sensei! Don't get her hopes up! It's next to impossible to find one! You can't expect that she'll be _that _lucky!" Kiba said angrily. Kurenai thought he could have spoken his thoughts a little more compassionately for Hinata's sake, but understood.

"He's right Hinata. You mustn't be too disappointed…remember, you've still got the bar of candy. That's something special all by itself" Kurenai said, giving her student a smile. Hinata smiled back as she peered down to the bar of chocolate. Still, there still was a chance. However _small _a chance it was, it was still a chance.

"O-Okay…here goes" Hinata said weakly as she pulled on the silver foil. She tore the wrapper right down the middle and…in her hand there was…a light brown creamy-coloured chocolate candy bar.

There was no sign of a golden ticket anywhere.

"Well…that's _that_" Shino said, breaking the silence.

Hinata continued to look down at the bar, as if expecting to see more. She finally brought her head up and held the candy bar out to Kurenai. "Here, Kurenai-sensei. We'll share it. Everybody gets a piece".

Kurenai shook her head "Oh no, Hinata. Not _your _candy bar".

Hinata insisted, "It's my chocolate, and I'll do what I like with it" she said with a small smile. She then broke the bar into pieces and gave one to each of her teammates, including Kurenai. They all took it gratefully. Hinata picked up her piece and nibbled the end. She stared into the distance, then back at her candy, wondering how long it would last.

The following evening, the Konoha newspaper announced not only the finding of the third golden ticket, but the fourth as well. _Two Golden Tickets Found Today! _The headline screamed. _Only one left!_

Hinata sat in her apartment on her mattress with a bowl of bok choy soup in her lap and the newspaper in her hands. She'd gotten the copy from a trash bin on the way home from training. Her window was close, as to keep the air out, which had gotten increasingly chilly. She read the newspaper aloud to herself as she ate her supper.

"The third ticket" she read, "was found by a Miss Tomoe Bulnose. There was great excitement in the Bulnose household when our reporter arrived to interview the young lady. The girl was standing on a chair in her living room, waving her golden ticket around for all to see. She was chewing furiously on a piece of chewing gum as she spoke.

" 'I'm a gum chewer normally,' she said as she chewed, 'but when I heard about these ticket things of Wonka-san's I laid off gum and switched to candy bars. Now that I've won, I'm back on gum. I hold a city wide record for gum chewing! This piece of gum I'm chewing has been going for three months! I'm going for the country-wide record!' her mother started to cut her off.

" 'Tomoe-chan, you shouldn't say unladylike things like that!' she fussed.

" 'Oka-san, urusei!' Tomoe shouted. She then continued the interview. 'I can't wait to see Wonka's factory! I bet he's got loads of different kinds of gum to try! Whoopee! Hooray!' she shouted".

Hinata stopped reading. She couldn't go on. She folded the paper and placed it on the floor. Sipping up the rest of her thin soup, she put her bowl away, turned out the light and went to bed.

As she lay down on the mattress, she gazed out her window, seeing the towers of smoke rising from the chocolate factory in the distance. She felt her eyes become heavy as she watched the dark smoke rise into the air. "I wish…I wish I could…" but Hinata couldn't finish her sentence, as she had fallen asleep.

Early the next morning, Hinata found herself with her team once again. Today they were practicing throwing shurikens and kunai at targets. A skill Kurenai thought needed to be improved. As they practiced, Kurenai spoke of the finding of the two golden tickets. "Beastly little girl…chewing gum like that…she'll meet a sticky end one day…and the other one…he's downright evil!" she muttered.

Hinata looked up at her teacher, missing a target as she did. "Sensei, who was the fourth ticket finder? I didn't read all of the article".

Kiba swore as he missed another target. "Kuso! The fourth kid was from the Rice country too…from the Otogakure from the looks of it". Hinata tensed up. All of them had heard rumors about the Hidden Sound village. An S-rank felon named Orochimaru, who was Konoha's number one enemy, supposedly ran it.

"Who was he?" Hinata asked again.

Kurenai paced back and forth behind the three genins as they practiced. "The paper said his name was Souya Ikari. He's your age as well…maybe a bit younger. He seemed downright grisly. He's the only winner so far that's also a ninja. He wore a head protector and some kunai pouches. He and his mother seemed interested only in violence, talking about the battles that were going on, how their village was fairing in its current war. The boy had apparently found the ticket using a kind of ninjutsu…did it on a whim, said he didn't expect much of the visit to the factory. Said he _hated _chocolate!"

"Well a good load of good that'll do him going to a _chocolate _factory! Ungrateful little Fing son of a b!" Kiba yelled angrily as he missed another target. He continued to curse and swear for another few minutes.

Kurenai sighed and ceased her pacing, deciding they had practiced long enough. "Do _all _children outside this village behave like these brutes?" she wondered aloud. Hinata answered her question.

"Not _all, _I'm sure…these kids are just…well…" she trailed off.

"They're no good fing little crap faced sheads if you ask me!" Kiba yelled again. Akamaru barked a few times to show his agreement.

"There's only one ticket left…" Hinata sighed, "I wonder who will find it…".


	6. 6: Hinata Begins To Starve

**6: Hinata Begins to Starve**

During the next two weeks the weather took a turn for the worst. The slight chill in the air around Konoha escaladed, becoming _snow. _It began suddenly one morning as Hinata was getting dressed for the day. Standing by the window, she saw huge flakes drifting slowly down out of an icy sky that was the colour of steel.

By evening, it lay four feet deep across the entire village, and poor Hinata had to dig a path around the entrance to her building.

After the snow came a freezing gale that blew for days and days without stopping. And oh, how bitter cold it was! Everything that Hinata touched seemed to be made of ice, and each time she stepped outside the door, the wind was like a kunai on her cheek.

Inside her apartment, little jets of cold air came rushing through the sides of the window and through the tiny cracks of her roof (she lived in the topmost apartment), and there seemed like no way to escape from them. Hinata struggled to keep warm on her mattress at night. The excitement of the golden tickets had long since been forgotten. Hinata didn't give a thought to anything but the two vital problems of trying to keep warm and trying to get enough to eat.

There's something about very cold weather that gives one an enormous appetite. Many of the villagers found themselves craving rich, steamy bowls of rice and barbequed beef in stews and soups, and all kinds of delicious, warming dishes. Because all of the villagers are a great deal luckier than they realized, they usually got what they wanted, or near enough. But Hinata Hyuuga never got what she wanted because she was just too poor. Even when things seemed desperate and she went to see her father for help, he turned her down. He said that surviving the cold and hunger would build character and make her a stronger person. Hinata couldn't disagree more. She found herself becoming ravenously and desperately hungry. The piece of chocolate from before had been nibbled away ages ago, and all she got now were those thin, cabbagey meals three times a day.

Then all at once, the meals became even thinner.

The reason for this was because her three-man team stopped receiving missions from the Hokage due to the awful weather. Genins were no longer needed as people stopped requesting D, C, and even B rank missions. The only people who seemed to be working were Jounins, providing relief to other villages across the Fire country. In the end, the only way Hinata was able to earn any money was to shovel snow in the streets for the few ryou that she could get. But it wasn't nearly enough for her to buy enough food for herself. The situation became desperate. Breakfast was half a slice of bread (or nothing at all), and lunch was half of what it used to be.

Slowly but surely, Hinata began to starve.

And every night, Hinata would have to gaze out of her window and see the enormous chocolate factory that Wonka-san owned. Hinata would curl up into a ball and keep herself warm with the thoughts of being near such an amazing place; the tried to fill her stomach with the memory of that delicious, creamy taste and smell.

"That child," Kurenai said to Asuma one evening as they returned to Konoha after a rescue mission, "That child has _got _to have more food. I saw her this morning shoveling some one's walkway, and she looks like a skeleton!"

"Is her situation at home bad? I knew she'd been living on her own since Hiashi forbid her from returning" Asuma said as he lit a cigarette.

"She's not _eating _enough, that's for sure" Kurenai sighed, "I've tried to help her out a bit, but she refuses. She says that she'll be fine and that I should be worried about taking care of _myself_ since we're doing more missions now!"

"She's a fine shinobi" Asuma said, "Knows nothing of greed, only thinks of others…"

The cruel weather went on and on.

And every day, Hinata grew thinner and thinner. Her face became frighteningly white and pinched, almost matching her eyes. One night after heading home from shoveling, she went to buy some food with her earnings. The snow drifted down, covering the top of her head. She shivered in the cold. Looking forward she saw that the streets were empty, everyone having gone home to escape from the bitter cold. Only one shadow of a person walked the streets in front of her. She couldn't make out who it was at such a distance. As the person's shape grew closer, Hinata couldn't even muster the blood to fill her cheeks. It was Uzumaki Naruto. His blonde, spiky head was covered in snow; he shivered in the cold as well.

"H-Hinata-chan, what're you doing out here?" he asked.

Hinata stumbled with her words, her teeth chattering. "N-N-N-Nar-r-r-r-uto-k-k-k-kun!" she said at last.

Naruto's eyes seemed to fill with concern. "Hinata, are you alright? You look very pale. Have you been getting enough to eat?" he asked.

Hinata couldn't bring herself to answer. She was far too tired and weak. Naruto seemed to notice this, as he stepped forward and braced her, thinking she might fall.

"H-Hinata-chan…c'mon, let's get you something hot to eat right away!" he said in a singsong voice.

"B-but, N-Naruto-kun…I don't want t-to be a bother"

"Don't be silly. C'mon, let's go eat together".

In no time at all, Hinata found herself sitting on a stool beside Naruto at the Ichiraku Ramen stand. Behind the curtain signs, the stand felt pleasantly warm. Hinata felt warmth returning to her face and hands. The stand's owner turned to them, his cheeks rosy and his face friendly.

"Okay, what can I get for you two?" he asked.

Hinata tried to object, saying that he really didn't have to worry about her, but Naruto was too quick. "Two bowls of Tonkontsu ramen, with extra beef please!"

"Yosh! Right away!" he passed the order to his younger assistant, and then turned to face the two genins again. "Weather's crazy, eh? Haven't had snow like this many years. Keeping warm Naruto?" he asked his customer. Naruto smiled and nodded.

"And you," the man said, looking at Hinata, "Are you a friend of my best customer here? Don't think I've seen you around very often" Hinata managed a smile and introduced herself. The man smiled and looked at the two of them reflectively. "Ah…_Hinata _Hyuuga. Naruto's told me all about you of course, all good things!" he added quickly, seeing the look on Hinata's face. "Well, I'll get your ramen". He went to the back of the stand, leaving the two of them alone.

"Hinata, it's good to see you" Naruto said slowly, "I was kind of worried about you…Kakashi said something about hearing from Asuma that you weren't doing too well…" he trailed off. Hinata simply looked down at the counter, not wanting to meet Naruto's eyes. She didn't want to show any sort of "weakness" in front of the boy she admired so much. The man came back with two steaming bowls of ramen, which he placed in front of the two.

"Yosh! Thank you, old man! Itadakimasu!" Naruto said as the bowl hit the counter. He snapped a pair of chopsticks and began to dig in. Hinata merely stared at the bowl, its steam rising onto her face, condensing on her cheeks. She looked down at all of the delicious looking noodles and cuts of beef. Her mouth started watering, the ravenous hunger returning to her.

"You can go ahead and eat that, you know," Naruto said with a grin, "It'll do you a world of good". Hinata didn't need to be told twice. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating at an incredible pace. Oh, the joy to be able to eat hot, filling food! Her tongue was slightly burnt, but the wonderful flavor of the savoury soup coated her mouth and ran down her throat. It was so much more satisfying than the watery cabbage soup she'd been eating before. Finally, finishing her bowl in half the time it took Naruto, she laid it down on the counter and gave a tremendous sigh.

"T-That was good" she said, smiling.

"Told 'ya" said Naruto as he slurped up some noodles, "Say, have you been keeping up to date with the whole 'golden ticket' thing?" he asked Hinata. She turned and nodded her head. She told him how she'd found out about the four ticket winners and how awful they seemed.

"They're rotten children," Naruto said with a clenched fist, "none of them really _deserve _to go to Wonka-san's factory. I heard some guy in the Hidden Sand one the last ticket this morning…I heard some people talking about it. I guess it's really over now…"

Hinata wiped a bit of noodle off of her chin and sighed again, this one was sadder. "I guess that's it…it's too bad" she said.

"Yeah…" Naruto said quietly. "Kakashi-sensei…was telling us about Willy Wonka-san…why he made his factory so close to a hidden shinobi village. He told us that Wonka-san was the most generous and kind people in the world. He told us about a shinobi war in the south. Both sides hated each other, and people were suffering on both fronts…then, Wonka-san met with the leaders of both sides and treated them to some chocolate. The leaders ate his candy and smiled, saying it reminded them of simpler times…their childhood. Wonka-san said that they could live like that once again and bring peace to their villages, if only they would remember the joy that the candy brought them…later on, both sides stopped fighting. Wonka-san then made it his mission to care for the children of both sides, making sure they had enough to eat…what an awesome guy!" Naruto smiled, looking out into the distance. "When I become Hokage, I hope that I can do some of the amazing things that he can…like ending that war and bringing peace"

Hinata gazed at Naruto. She remembered that it was things like that story that made her admire both Naruto _and _Willy Wonka as her heroes.

"Gotseusama. Thanks for the ramen, old man! Have a good night!" he called into the stand, waving to the owner, "Hinata, I've got a bit of money left…would you like to get a candy bar with me? All this talk about Wonka-san kinda makes me in the mood for something sweet" he grinned.

Hinata perked up at the mention of buying some chocolate. It had been quite a while since she'd had some. "O-of course! Thank you for the gracious invitation" she said politely.

"No problem, let's head over before they close," Naruto cheered as they left the warmth of the ramen stand behind and trudged off into the snow.


	7. 7: The Miracle

**7: The Miracle**

Hinata and Naruto entered the store, letting in a gust of bitter cold wind as they did. The shopkeeper shivered and rubbed his arms together. "Come on, get in quickly now! Don't be letting too much more of that dreadful cold inside" he said with a shake. Hinata remembered the shopkeeper from a few weeks back when she'd bought her last chocolate bar. "What'll it be?" the shopkeeper asked as they walked up to the counter.

"Oi, let's see…we'll have a Wonka's Caramel Swirl Explosion and…what would you like Hinata?" Naruto asked. Hinata realized at last that she hadn't any money to pay for candy.

"Ano…um, I-I'm not really sure I'll-"

"Daijoubu, Hinata. It's my treat" Naruto said, grinning wide. Hinata felt relieved and quite thankful to the boy. She blushed a bit despite the cold.

"I-I'll have a Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, kudasai," she said at last. The shopkeeper turned his back and rummaged through the drawer where he kept his Wonka bars.

"I guess you won't have to hide your Wonka candies anymore, now that all of the tickets have been found, ne?" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't know what you're talking about…" the shopkeeper mumbled, handing over their candy bars. Naruto took both and handed Hinata hers.

"Let's open 'em now. Wouldn't want to try and eat them out there in the cold" Naruto suggested. Hinata agreed thoroughly. She watched Naruto tear off the wrapper of his and take a large bite of his bar, the creamy colour of caramel bubbling out.

Hinata held her bar in her hands. She tore the corner off of the wrapper…and _suddenly_…from underneath the wrapper…there came a brilliant flash of gold.

Hinata's heart stood still.

Naruto dropped his bar of candy and stared, "N-no way…" he mumbled.

"It's a golden ticket!" screamed the shopkeeper, leaping about a foot into the air. "You've got a golden ticket! You've found Wonka's last golden ticket! It's amazing! There it is, right in your hands!"

It seemed as though the shopkeeper might be going to have a fit. He was so excited. "In my shop too!" he yelled, "Right here in my little shop! Congratulations! S-somebody call the newspapers! You're right famous, little girl! Watch out now, don't tear it as you unwrap it! That thing is precious, it is!"

Naruto was dumbstruck. "H-Hinata-chan!" he yelled, looking into her eyes with a wide grin. He held her hands tight in front of him, "You did it! You found the last ticket! B-but…I thought someone in the Sunagakure found it this morning!"

"It was a fake," the shopkeeper said, "Later this afternoon they unmasked it as a clever hoax. Wow…the last golden ticket in my shop!"

Hinata couldn't even speak. Words failed her. She gibbered for a moment, but then her voice cracked from all the miraculous excitement. She tried to make sense of all that was happening.

_A golden ticket? _She thought.

The _golden ticket! The last one?_

_I've found it! Me?_

_I've found it! I'VE FOUND IT!_

"I FOUND IT!" Hinata cried at last. She stared into the luminous foil of the sparkling ticket. Naruto tapped her on the shoulder; she apparently wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her.

"Hinata-chan! I'm gonna run to the newspapers to tell them the big news! Where are you gonna go? You should tell someone!" he said quickly.

Hinata thought a moment. "I-I'll go to Kurenai-sensei's house. I can tell her! That's where I'll be," she said at last. Naruto nodded, and then seemed to shake for a moment, as if he was vibrating on the spot. The next thing Hinata knew was that she was in a very tight hug. Naruto squeezed his arms around her.

"_Keeeeeehhh! _I can't tell you how happy I am for you! This is fantastic!" he said breathlessly.

_Naruto's hugging me!_

_Naruto's…HUGGING…me! _Hinata thought. She suddenly felt very warm and her face felt hot. She blushed so much she thought her face would melt off.

"Oi! Let the girl go, she's got to get a move on and so do you!" the shopkeeper said at last. Naruto broke their quick embrace and headed out the door.

"I'll see you in a bit! I always knew you'd win, Hinata-chan!" he shouted, and raced off into the darkness. Hinata stood silently, watching him go. She felt unsure of what she should do next. Then she remembered going to Kurenai's house. She turned and bowed to the shopkeeper.

"Domo arigato gozaiimasu!" she shouted politely. The shopkeeper tipped his hat to her. Hinata raced out of the shop with the ticket secured in her tight fist. She ran across the deserted streets, following the light of the lampposts. While it was still freezing out, Hinata didn't notice the cold. She didn't feel weak or tired at all. In fact, she felt as if she must have been the strongest person in the world! Her face drawn tight in an enormous grin that didn't seem to want to go away.

She continued running, passing houses and closed stores on her way to where Kurenai lived. She was about a block away when-

"Oooff" she mumbled, feeling as though she'd been knocked down. She looked around to realize she _had _been knocked down. She was lying on her bottom in the cold, wet snow. A tall, dark man standing over her.

"Hinata Hyuuga-san…" the man said slowly. His voice was as cold as the snow around them. Only part of him was really visible, his face and arms were shrouded in the darkness of the night. The man extended an arm with an open hand. "Let me help you up" he said. Hinata reluctantly accepted his hand.

"Let me introduce myself…my name is Urami H'coro, and I'm a chocolate maker" he said quickly. Hinata barely caught a word he was saying. She took an instant dislike to the man. "Wonka-san is one of my competitors. Firstly, I'd like to congratulate you on your lucky finding of the last golden ticket. Now…I'd like to ask you for a favour, no…a mission. Consider this a shinobi mission"

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond. She trembled and remained silent, listening to the scary looking man. "Wonka is currently working on an experimental invention that will revolutionize how shinobi operate and function. If it is released, my company will be ruined! Here's my offer," the man called Urami extended his other hand…which held a large roll of money.

"Ten million ryou. Payment enough for you to leave your dismal apartment, and afford good food for a long time. I can give you this…if you steal the formula for this invention. One sample will be good enough. I'll be waiting for you with the money once you leave the factory" he retracted his hands, waving as he did. "Just remember to find and bring it to me…until then"

With those final words, he vanished. A mysterious man that Hinata barely knew had just offered her a large sum of money to steal one of Wonka-san's inventions. She swallowed hard, brushed the snow of her now wet pants, and proceeded to Kurenai's house. She gripped the ticket tightly, knowing that she had a lot to tell her.


	8. 8: What It Said on the Golden Ticket

**8: What It Said on the Golden Ticket**

Kurenai sat at home with her legs under her kotatsu (heated table). She was enjoying a nice, relaxing cup of tea before she would try and sleep a few hours before her next mission. Younger and more inexperienced ninja were out of work for the moment, but the harsh weather and sudden snowfall provided a multitude of search and rescue missions for experienced Jounins such as Kurenai. Her body ached and she was looking forward to a nice, warm bed.

Her expectations were cut short when a loud banging came from her front door. BANG, BANG, BANG it went! Kurenai wondered who on earth would be calling at such an hour. She opened her door to find her young genin student standing in the snow, gasping for breath. "K-Kur-renai-sens-sei! Kurenai-sensei!" she said breathlessly.

"Hinata!" said Kurenai, shocked to see her, "What's the matter, c-come in, please!" she beckoned Hinata to enter.

"Thank you very much!" the girl said in the same breathless voice, she turned, bowed, then proceeded to take off her shoes.

"Hinata, what is this all about? I don't mean to sound ungracious, but you've chosen a very late hour to stop by for a visi-" her sentence was cut short as Hinata began to shout.

"Look! I've got it! Look, sensei, look! The last golden ticket! It's mine! I met Naruto on the street and we went to have some ramen and after we went to the shop and we bought some candy bars and I opened mine up and it was there inside sensei, then Naruto went to go talk to the newspaper people and I decided to tell you the wonderful news and here I am now! _It's the fifth golden ticket, Kurenai-sensei, and I've found it!_"

Kurenai simply stood and stared at Hinata for a very long time. There was about ten seconds of absolute silence (save for Hinata struggling to breath after such an outburst). Then, very softly, Kurenai said, "H-Hinata…you're pulling my leg, aren't you? This is some kind of joke? D-did Kiba put you up to this?"

"No, he _didn't!_ I'm telling the truth! See!" cried Hinata. She thrust the ticket up to Kurenai's face. She took it and held it very close to her brilliant red eyes, as if studying it very carefully. She saw two, round red globes reflected in the shimmering golden paper. Hinata watched her, as if waiting for a verdict.

Then very slowly, with a slow and marvelous grin spreading all over her face, Kurenai lifted her head and looked straight at Hinata. Her face began to glow a vivid red, and her eyes were wide open, shining with joy, and in the center of each eye, right in the very middle, in the black pupil, a little spark of wild excitement was slowly dancing. Her lips quivered slightly as she began to speak, quietly and slowly:

"Hinata…this is…" she began. Hinata nodded. Kurenai suddenly threw her arms up into the air, nearly knocking Hinata over, and yelled, "_YOU DID IT!"_ She then grabbed Hinata by the hands and started jumping up and down, screaming. Hinata felt compelled to join her (without the screaming, though). It was as if some long hidden inner child of Kurenai's had suddenly surfaced with immense presence.

"This is completely and utterly fantastic! You, Hinata Hyuuga, winning Wonka's _last _golden ticket! It's mind-boggling! C'mon, let's sit down and read exactly what it says!" With that, the two of them sat down under the kotatsu to examine the precious document.

It was a very beautiful thing, this golden ticket, having been made, so it seemed, from a sheet of pure gold. It was as thin as an ordinary sheet of paper, but of course, felt much stronger. On one side of it, printed (or perhaps sealed) in jet-black letters, was the invitation itself-from Wonka-san.

"Read it aloud, sensei" Hinata urged. Kurenai held up the ticket and began to read:

"'_Greetings to you, _the lucky finder of this golden ticket, from I, Willy Wonka-sama! I shake you firmly by the hand! Tremendous things are in store for you! I, Willy Wonka, will conduct the tour of my factory myself, where you will see first hand the marvel of it. Afterwards, you will be escorted home by a procession of large trucks. These trucks are filled with enough candy to last you for the rest of your years! Additionally, one of you five lucky finders will win a special prize of unimaginable specialness! Here are your instructions: Please arrive at my factory gates on the first of February at ten o'clock sharp. You may bring one guest or guardian with you if you'd like, but only one other! Be sure to have your ticket with you to gain entrance. Great and fantastic things await, so until then!

(Signed) Willy Wonka'"

"The first of _February!_" cried Kurenai as she finished, "But that's tomorrow! You've found it just in time! There's no time to lose! You've got to start preparing! Wash your face, comb your hair, wash your coat, it's quite dirty, brush your teeth, blow your nose, you've got to get ready! This could be the biggest day of your life!"

"D-daijoubu, I'll be prepared…ano, Kurenai-sensei…it says I'm allowed to bring one guest with me. I'd like…I'd like it very much if you would come with me," Hinata said warmly. Kurenai's face lit up even brighter when she mentioned this! But then it immediately fell. Her smile faded and her eyes drooped.

"H-Hinata…I'm so happy that you'd choose me as your guest…but I can't go with you" she said crestfallenly. Hinata's face fell as well.

"Why? Why can't you come? It says that I can bring a guest, it doesn't matter if you're not my guardian…"

"It's not that…believe me, I'd _love _to come with you…but I've been assigned an A rank mission with Kakashi and Asuma that begins early tomorrow morning. I'm afraid it's quite out of the question" she finished.

"But!" Hinata started, but Kurenai cut her off.

"I'm sorry Hinata, but there's nothing I can do," she gave a small smile and embraced her pupil "but I couldn't be happier that you'd want me to come with you" she said comfortingly. "I'm sure there is someone else you wouldn't mind taking with you…what about one of your teammates? Or perhaps…" Kurenai chuckled and stuck out her thumb (a Japanese way of implying a girl's boyfriend), "that boy from team 7?"

Hinata's face turned about a million colours before deciding on a very bright shade of scarlet. "K-Kurenai-sensei! Hidoi! I-I couldn't ask him! I-I…"

"Why couldn't you ask him?" Kurenai smiled "I'm sure he'd be overjoyed to come with you. You did say the two of you had ramen together tonight, and then went to buy the candy. I think he's a very fine choice for the occasion"

Hinata thought about it, and while she disagreed with how Kurenai had mentioned him, she couldn't disagree that she would love to go to the factory with Naruto. She finally nodded and smiled, thanking her teacher.

At that moment, there was another extraordinarily loud knock on Kurenai's front door. BANG, BANG, BANG it went. Finally the door could take no more and was beaten down by a barrage of newspaper reporters and television crews, all of them wanting to interview the finder of Wonka's last golden ticket. There was an equally loud cry of "Oi! There's too many of you! Give Hinata-chan some room! I'll show you guys! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" at which many copies of Naruto forced their way through in order to give Hinata a little more breathing room. It was complete pandemonium in the house.

Hinata didn't mention meeting a sinister man on the street called Urami H'coro who offered her ten million ryou to steal one of Wonka-san's inventions to Kurenai. With all the distractions, it had completely slipped her mind.

* * *

The sun was shining brightly on the morning of the big day, but the ground was still white with snow and the air was very cold.

Outside of the giant iron gates of Wonka's factory, enormous crowds of people had gathered to watch the five lucky ticket holders going in. the excitement was tremendous. It was just before ten o'clock. The crowds were pushing and shouting, and Konoha ninja police were trying to hold the crowd back from the gates. Everyone from all corners and countries of the world had come to see this event. Not since the last chuunin exam had there been so many foreigners inside the Hidden Leaf at one time.

Right beside the gates, in a small group that was carefully shielded from the crowds by the police, stood the five famous children, together with their guests who had come with them.

Hinata stood in line with the other children, Naruto standing right beside her. He had been overjoyed and very grateful that Hinata had chosen him to be her guest. He looked out into the crowd, and then suddenly waved towards it. "Hinata, look! Everybody came to see us off!" he pointed to part of the crowd. Sure enough, there were almost all of the Konoha rookie genins there, waving flags and carrying a large sign that read **Hinata and Naruto! Konoha's Golden Genins! **Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Rock lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sasuke, Kiba, and even Shino were there cheering them on. The only one Hinata noticed was absent was her cousin Neji Hyuuga.

Behind her, Hinatacould hear the shoutsof the people in the crowd as they pushed and fought to catch a glimpse of the famous children.

"There's Tomoe Bulnose!" she heard someone shouting. "That's her, I can remember the face from the newspapers!"

"And you know what?" Someone else said, "She's still chewing that dreadful old piece of gum she's had for three months! Look, see her jaw moving up and down!"

"Who's the big fat girl?"

"That's Yoriko Glupu!"

"_Gloop! _What a fitting name. She's enormous, isn't she!"

"Completely obese!"

"Who's that shorty? The one whose face's covered by a mask!"

"I dunno. Ooh! He's wearing a head protector! That must be Souya Ikari! They say he's an Otogakure shinobi!"

"But where's his guest? There's nobody with him!"

"You're right, completely alone…that's kind of sad"

"The one _I _want to see is Masaru Kawasaki!" shouted another voice in the crowd. "He's the boy who's father made all those slaves open thousands of candy bars for him! His father gives him anything he wants. Absolutely anything! He's only got to scream for it and he'll get it!"

"Dreadful, isn't it?"

"Shocking!"

"Which one do you think is him?"

"Over there, the one dressed in a formal noble's clothes. He must be hella rich!"

"Which one's Hinata Hyuuga!"

"The Hyuuga? She must be that skinny little girl standing beside that blonde shorty over there. See them?"

"Why doesn't she have a coat on? It's freezing out here!"

"Maybe she can't afford to buy one"

"Really? Damn, she must be freezing. These two are Konoha ninja right?"

"You bet! Born and raised in Konoha!"

Suddenly in the distance, a clock tower bell began striking ten. Very slowly, with a loud creaking of rusty hinges, the great iron gates of the factory began to swing open. The crowd suddenly became silent. The children stopped jumping about. All these eyes were fixed upon the gates.

A loud voice called out from the factory, _"Please enter!" _All of the children and their guests began to step forward. As they passed the gates, the same voice called out. It was loud and statically, as if coming from a loudspeaker, _"Close the gates!"_ It called. The gates began to close seconds after this announcement as the children continued on towards the front doors of the factory.

Before they reached their destination, a large cloud of smoke exploded in front of them. A figure stepped out of it. She had platinum blonde hair tied back in a bizarre fashion, a tight cream coloured shirt that revealed a large amount of cleavage, and a green jacket. Hinata and Naruto recognized her instantly.

"Hello, distinguished guests and winners of the golden tickets," she said, "My name is Tsunade and I'm the Godaime (Fifth Hokage) of the Konohagakure. I sent a letter to Wonka-san before today and he has allowed me to welcome you all to our village. Wonka-san assures me he will be out shortly to begin your tour. I'd like to welcome you all once again to our prestigious village"

"Tsunade-Obachan! What're you doing here?" Naruto asked stupidly, obviously not hearing a word she had just said.

"N-Naruto-kun…as I was just saying-" she started, but a voice cut her off.

"You've got really big boobs, did you know that?" a voice said beside her.

Tsunade choked on her sentence, obviously not prepared for such a statement. She turned to see a man standing right beside her. He was wearing a black top hat on his head, a long coat made of plum-coloured velvet, bottle green pants, and dark purple rubber gloves. His face was hidden behind an enormous pair of dark, round sunglasses.

"They really are quite enormous! I mean, I'm completely stumped on how you could grow them so big" he continued, absolutely fascinated "I can't believe you can stand and not fall down with breasts that size…" he trailed off. Then suddenly he turned to face the children, as if the previous statement hadn't occurred at all.

"Welcome to my factory! I'm ever so glad to meet you all! My, you're all very short, aren't you!" he said, his voice high and childlike.

"Who are you?" Tomoe Bulnose asked, a snotty look on her face.

"H-h-he's W-Willy Wonka-san!" Hinata exclaimed.

Tsunade tried to recover from failing so miserably at speaking for a moment. "I…you…b-b-b…what?" she gibbered. Willy Wonka turned to her and smiled.

"I see you're still here! Well, thanks for warming up the crowd for me! You and your absolutely enormous, scientifically baffling mammories can go home now! Bye bye!" he gave a little wave and gestured for the children and their guests to follow him. "C'mon…let's boogie!"

With that, the crowd entered the chocolate factory.

Tsunade stood outside the building for quite a while, completely dumbfounded and unsure of what to say. In the end, she decided that it was getting late and her feet were getting cold and that she best be off her office to enjoy a _very _large saucer of sake.


	9. 9: Willy Wonka's Chocolate Room

**9: Willy Wonka's 'Chocolate Room'**

As they entered, they noticed they were walking into an enormous corridor with polished steel walls and an extremely high ceiling. The corridor seemed to stretch out forever. There was a red carpet running all the way down it that it seemed to disappear near the end. The carpet was lined with brass poles with thick velvet ropes, like in a cinema waiting line.

"Okay, just drop your coats anywhere or toss them any-dang-way!" Wonka-san said as he toke off his velvet coat and dropped it beside himself, then removed his glasses and threw them against a far wall so hard that they shattered. Everyone took off their coats (except Hinata and Naruto, who weren't wearing any) and placed them much more politely on the brass poles.

"Okay little children, step up and show me your golden tickets so that I may allow you to enter my factory and not kick you out on your dirty old behinds" he said with a childish grin. One by one, the children formed a line, their golden tickets in their hands. The big fat girl stepped up first.

"I'm Yoriko Glupu," she said as she shoved a large chunk of a candy bar in her mouth "I love your chocolate!"

"I can see that! May I also say that you're marvelously rotund! I'm so happy that you've made such a big investment into my humble little company," Wonka said as he patted her enormous belly.

"My name," said the next child to go forward, "Is Masaru Kawasaki."

"My _dear _Masaru-kun! Y'know, I once that that a Masaru was a wild cat that lived on the island of Iromote and frequently got hit by passing cars! I guess I must be mistaken. Heheheheh" Wonka giggled, letting the boy pass with his father.

Tomoe Bulnose ran up and hugged Wonka-san around the middle. He jumped and recoiled from her touch. "I'm Tomoe Bulnose!" she said matter of factly.

"…I don't care…" Wonka said at last, the repulsion from his face leaving as the girl walked past. He then turned to face the next child, who was guestless.

"You…you're Souya Ikari," he said cheekily, "You're the little devil who figured out a ninjutsu that could find my golden tickets!"

Souya looked at Wonka-san with contempt. "It was quite simple. Even a novice could have discovered it," he said coldly.

"I'm sorry, you really shouldn't mumble. I'm a trifle deaf in my left ear…on you go!" he said, motioning for Souya to keep walking. He then approached the two remaining people. "You," he said with a big grin, as he looked at Hinata "You're just lucky to be here, aren't you!" He began to pump Hinata's hand vigorously, "How are you? You look a bit thin. Still, overjoyed to see you! Enthralled, captivated, enraptured, enchanted! And this must be your guest!" he looked to Naruto, "My, you're a tad short! Ah, you're both genins from Konoha! I can see your forehead protectors! Well, simply delighted to have you over!" he finally finished. He then rushed forward and continued to lead the group down the corridor.

"It's so _warm_ in here" Naruto said. Hinata nodded and said, "It smells fantastic!" she took a big whiff of the air, which smelled of roasting coffee and burnt sugar and melted chocolate.

"I have to keep my factory warm for my workers. They're used to an extremely hot climate. They can't stand the cold!" Wonka-san added as they continued on. Hinata suddenly remembered Kakashi telling her about the mystery of the workers.

"But who _are _these workers?" she asked.

"All in good time…" Wonka-san said as they walked. "We've so much to see and so little lint in our pockets…I mean time!"

It seemed strange to Hinata, but she felt as if the corridor around her was getting smaller, almost as if the ceiling was on a slant. She looked to the others and discovered she wasn't the only one who thought this. They all looked around as the corridor became smaller and smaller. Soon, they were all cramped and squeezed into a tiny little exit. The door stood only a few centimeters off of the ground. "Why the heck is the door so small!" Masaru yelled.

"Well, that's to keep all the great big chocolaty flavour inside, heheh!" Wonka-san laughed. He bent over and turned a little key into the door. Then, the entire back of the corridor opened like a door to reveal an enormous room!

"This is an ultra important room!" Wonka-san said, putting the key back in his pocket. "_This _is the nerve center of the whole factory, the heart of the whole business! And so _beautiful! _I _insist _upon my rooms being beautiful! I can't _abide _ugliness, oh no!"

They were looking down upon a lovely valley. There were green meadows on either side of the valley, and along the bottom of it there flowed a great brown river. There was also a tremendous waterfall halfway along the river-a steep cliff over which the water curled and rolled in a solid sheet, and then went crashing down into a boiling, churning whirlpool of froth and spray. Graceful trees and bushes were growing along the riverbanks; weeping willows and alders and other trees with multicoloured blossoms of flowers and fruit. In the meadows there were thousands of buttercups.

"Don't get over excited children," Wonka said in a monotone "Don't lose your heads."

"That water down there is _filthy! _It's so brown from pollution!" Hito Kawasaki said disgustedly. Wonka-san laughed.

"No, you silly, silly man. It's so brown from _chocolate!_" he said, "Every drop of this river is hot, melted chocolate which I use in my factory. The waterfall is most essential: it mixes my chocolate, churning it up, making it light and frothy! I'm the only chocolateer in the world to mix his chocolate by waterfall…but I suppose it's not that special" he said, sighing at the end.

All of the people were bewildered and dazzled by the sight of the river. Hinata piped up, "Wonka-san, it _is _something special!"

"I know," he said with a chuckle, "I was just foolin' with ya'. See those pipes over there? They suck up my chocolate and carry it right to rooms all over my factory! Quite an invention, those pipes. Oooh, be sure to look at my trees and my bushes. Aren't they spectacular? Delicious too…" he looked at the children's puzzled faces from his last remark.

"Didn't I tell you?" Wonka-san continued, "_Everything _in this room is edible, meaning you can _eat _anything in this room! Try some of my grass, it's delectable. Made from a new kind of soft, minty sugar I've invented. Go ahead, try a blade!"

Automatically, everybody bent down and picked one blade of the grass, everyone except Yoriko Glupu, who took a large handful. Before Tomoe Bulnose tasted her blade, she took out her record breaking piece of gum and stuck it behind her ear.

"Isn't it _wonderful!_" whispered Hinata to Naruto, "Hasn't it got a wonderful taste, N-Naruto-kun?"

"It's fantastic! Nothing like anything I've ever tasted. I could eat a whole field!" Naruto said, grinning with delight.

"Try a buttercup," cried Wonka-san, "they're even nicer! In fact, go ahead! Enjoy yourselves! Go, go!" he began to shoo them away, motioning for them to look around. The children grabbed their guests and headed off to discover what other wonderful and _eatable _things were around to see and eat.

* * *

Tomoe Bulnose and Masaru Kawasaki ran over to a large tree that seemed to be growing candied apples. Tomoe ran up and picked one just as Masaru was; she reached for the one he was about to pick. "Hey, that one's mine!" he shouted.

Tomoe took out her gum and put it behind her ear. "I don't see your name on it" she said as she took a large bite. Masaru's face became quite red. He pouted and turned his nose up at the girl as she ate the apple. He picked another one nearby.

"_Hmph_…_that _one was a peasant's fruit anyway. _This _one on the other hand, looks like it's fit for someone of my status," he said smugly as he took a bite.

"That one's got dirt on it" Tomoe said, pointing. Masaru quickly dropped the apple, to which Tomoe let out a peal of laughter.

"That wasn't funny…" Masaru said as he turned to look for the group, "_Oto-san! _I want a candied fruit tree just like this one!" he shouted as he stormed off.

* * *

Yoriko Glupu waddled along the valley, shoving whatever she could into her mouth. Her cheeks were smeared with chocolate and cream. Anything the girl saw in her little piggy eyes, she shoved into her open maw. Nothing was spared: toadstools filled with whipped cream, stripped bark from trees made of licorice, fistfuls of the minty sugar grass. Yoriko stuffed herself to the point of bursting. Her eyes wide, she steered herself towards the chocolate river…

* * *

"Sugoi! Hinata, this place is awesome!" Naruto said as he strolled along the valley with her. The two walked along looking at all the wondrous things there was to try. "Hinata-chan, I really want to thank you for inviting me. It really means a lot to me" Naruto smiled. Hinata blushed and shook her head, saying it was no problem. The two stopped as they saw of the children in the distance, smashing something onto the ground.

"Who's that kid? What the heck is he doing?" Naruto asked.

"S-Souya Ikari, I think they said his name was," said Hinata as they watched him stomp on some of the buttercups. "It doesn't look like he's very happy to be here…" she said quietly.

"He's a genin like us, isn't he?" Naruto said, watching him from a distance, "looks kinda like a jerk to me…c'mon, let's find Wonka-san again"

* * *

All of the children's venturing was cut short by a scream from Bulnose-san. She was pointing frantically to the other side of the river. "_Look! _Look over there!" she screamed. "What is it? He's moving! He's walking! It's a little _man! _Down there below the waterfall!"

Everybody stopped picking buttercups and candied apples and grass and started staring across the river.

"_She's right, Naruto-kun!_" cried Hinata. "I-I-it's a little person! Can you see him?"

"I see him, Hinata-chan!" said Naruto excitedly.

And now everybody started shouting at once.

"There are _two _of them! Two little men!"

"No, I think one of them is a little _woman! _See, you can see her little hair, it's longer!"

"Hey, you're right! Wait, there's _more _of them!"

"A _lot _more!"

"What are they _doing?_"

"Where do they _come _from?"

"Who _are_ they?"

Children and parents alike rushed down to the edge of the river to get a closer look.

"They're little people!"

"No higher than my knee!"

"What're they wearing? What're those things around their heads?"

"Baka! Those are head protectors! They're ninja!"

"That's impossible!"

The tiny people, they were no larger than medium sized dolls, had stopped what they were doing, and now they were staring back across the river at the visitors. One of them pointed towards the children, and then whispered something to a few others, and then they all burst into peals of laughter.

"D-demo, they can't be _real _people," Hinata said.

"Of course they're real people," Wonka-san answered, "They're Oompa-Loompas."


	10. 10: The OompaLoompas and Yoriko

**10: The Oompa-Loompas and Yoriko**

"_Oompa-Loompas!_" everyone cried at once. "Oompa-Loompas!"

"Imported direct from the Loompagakure, or the Hidden Village of Loompa if you like." Wonka-san said proudly.

"That's preposterous! There's no such place, not in any country!" Bulnose-san said.

"Excuse me, my dear lady, but…"

"_Wonka-san,_" cried Bulnose-san. "My husband is a Chuunin teacher in an academy, I assure you that…"

"Then you'll know all about it and what a terrible little place it is," said Wonka-san. "It was absolutely horrible! Completely infested with the most dangerous beasts in the entire world! Full of giant snakes and giant toads and giant slugs! The giant slugs are by far the worst. A giant slug would eat ten Oompa-Loompas for breakfast and come sludging and sliding back for a second helping. When I went there, I found the little Oompa-Loompas living in tree houses to escape from the Giant snakes, toads and slugs. And they were practically _starving _to death! They were living off of green caterpillars, probably the most revolting and disgusting food in the world. They would mash up other things with the caterpillars to make them taste better, but all of the reachable ingredients were just as repellant. Poor Little Oompa-Loompas! The one food they longed for more than any other was the cacao bean. But they couldn't get it. An Oompa-Loompa was lucky if he or she found three or four cacao beans a year. But oh, how they craved them. They were mental for those cacao beans.

"The cacao bean," continued Wonka-san, "is the thing from which chocolate is made of. I myself use millions of cacao beans every week here in my factory. So when I discovered that this was the food they craved, I climbed up to the Oompa-Loompa chieftess's tree house. The poor little thing, looking thin and starved, was sitting there trying to eat a bowl full of the revolting caterpillars without being sick. Such a dreadful sight. 'Look here' I said (speaking not in Japanese, of course, but in their native language), 'look here, if you and all of your people will come back to the Fire country and live in my factory, you can have _all_ the cacao beans you want! I've got mountains of them in my storehouses! You can eat as much as you want! I'll even pay your wages in cacao beans if you'd like!'

" 'You really mean it?' asked the chieftess, leaping up from her chair.

" 'Of course I mean it! You can all work in my chocolate factory and have all the cacao beans you could ever wish for!'

"The little woman gave a great whoop of joy and shook my finger. 'It's a deal!' she cried, 'Let's go!'

"So I shipped all of them over here, every man, woman, and child in the hidden Oompa-Loompa village. They are wonderful workers! I trained them myself. You see, ordinary workers produce _ordinary _chocolate, so I decided to hone their skills in Ninjutsu in order for them to work even more diligently and efficiently. See, look over there!" he pointed across the river. One of the Oompa-Loompas clapped his hands together in the seal of the tiger and blew an enormous breath of fire to heat a large cooking pot another was stirring.

"T-That's _Katon: Goukyaku no jutsu_!" Naruto shouted, looking amazed.

"That's right!" Wonka-san said, smiling, "Y'know, for being blonde, you're actually kinda smart little boy!"

Souya Ikari stepped up looked Wonka-san straight in the eyes. "That would mean that _you're _a ninja as well, wouldn't it?" he said quickly.

"No," Wonka-san said with a chuckle, "of course not, what on earth would give you _that _idea?"

"But you just said that you taught and trained them in ninjutsu…"

"I really wish you'd stop mumbling," Wonka-san said as he cleaned out one of his ears, "It's really starting to get irritating!"

"_Oto-san!_" shouted Masaru Kawasaki (The noble boy who got everything he wanted). "Oto-san, I want an Oompa-Loompa! I want you to get me an Oompa-Loompa _right now!_"

"Now, now, son," his father said to him, "I'll get you one as soon as I possibly can."

"_But I want an Oompa-Loompa NOW!_" screamed Masaru.

"Y-Yoriko-chan!" shouted Glupu-san. "Yoriko-chan, sweetheart, _that_ is not a good thing you do!" Yoriko Glupu, as you might have guessed, had quietly sneaked down to the edge of the river, and was now kneeling on the river bank, scooping hot melted chocolate into her mouth as fast as she could.

When Wonka-san turned around and saw what Yoriko was doing, he cried out, "Oh, um…little girl! Stop doing that! My chocolate must remain untouched by human hands!" He began to chase after the girl.

"Yoriko-chan!" called out Glupu-san, "Didn't you hear what the man said? Come away from that river at once!"

"This stuff is _terrific!_" said Yoriko, chocolate coating her mouth, not taking the slightest notice of her mother, "I'm gonna need a bucket to drink it properly!"

"Yoriko-chan!" cried Glupu-san.

"Little girl!" cried Wonka-san.

But Yoriko was deaf to everything except the call of her enormous stomach. She was now lying full length on the ground with her head far out over the river, trying to suck the chocolate right out of the river.

"Y-Y-Yoriko-san! Y-you're leaning out too far!" Hinata called out.

Hinata was absolutely right. Suddenly there was a shriek, and then a splash, and into the river Yoriko Glupu went, and in one second she had disappeared under the brown surface. "Save her!" cried the girl's mother, "She can't swim! She'll drown! Save her!"

But at that moment there was a terribly loud squelching sound coming from the other side of the river. Everyone turned to see what it was. Because the pipe was made of glass, the people could see everything in it, and _Yoriko Glupu_ could be seen clearly inside the pipe, shooting up like a torpedo!

"Help! My precious little girl! Somebody save her!" Glupu-san screamed.

"It's a wonder to me," Bulnose-san said, "how that pipe is big enough for her to go through it."

"It isn't big enough!" Naruto cried, "See, she's slowing down!"

"She's gonna stick!" Masaru Kawasaki cried.

"I think she has!" his father added.

"It's her stomach that's done it," Souya Ikari said, "She's just so fat!"

The watchers below could see the chocolate swishing around the girl in the pipe, and they could see it building up behind him in a solid mass, pushing against the blockage of Yoriko's massive behind. The pressure was terrific. Something had to give. Something did give, and that something was Yoriko. **_WHOOF! _**Up she shot again like a kunai.

"She's disappeared!" yelled Glupu-san. "Where does that pipe go to!" Quick! Someone help her!"

"That pipe?" Wonka-san asked the woman, "Oh, that particular pipe leads directly to the room where I make the most delicious kind of strawberry flavoured chocolate-coated fudge!" he said with a smile.

"T-Then she'll be made into strawberry flavoured chocolate-coated fudge! They'll be selling her all over the country by the pound!" her mother screamed, horrified.

"No, no," Wonka-san said seriously, "No, I wouldn't allow it!"

"And why not!" shrieked Yoriko's mother.

"Because the taste would be terrible. Can you imagine Yoriko flavoured chocolate-coated Glupu?" he said with a disgusted look, "Eww!"

Wonka-san then turned to face another direction, then he made a bizarre noise with his tongue. Immediately, an Oompa Loompa appeared, as if from nowhere, and stood in front of him.

The Oompa Loompa gave a bit of a salute to the much taller man. He was wearing a dark navy body suit and a small kerchief-like mask over his face and a hood to cover his head, a forehead protector with the symbol of a small bean tied tight around his forehead. It was traditional shinobi attire. His eyes sparkled playfully, the top of his head came just above the height of Wonka-san's knee.

"Now listen to me," Wonka-san said, looking down at the tiny man, "I want you to take Glupu-san up to the fudge room, find her daughter, and when you get there, take a long stick and start _poking _(he made violent poking gestures with his arms) and _jabbing _around inside the mixing barrel. I'm sure you'll find him."

The Oompa-Loompa bowed and led the way for Yoriko's mother, who followed him as he exited the chocolate room. Wonka-san called to them as they left: "Good bye, Glupu-san! I'm sure we'll have no trouble finding your enormously overweight daughter in no time unless she's been turned into fudge! Goodbye!"

As Yoriko's mother passed out of view, a large number of Oompa-Loompas gathered from across the river. They began dancing and beating their chests. A few of them had musical instruments, which they began to play. "Yoriko _Gloop!_" the others chanted. "Yoriko Gloop! Yoriko Gloop!"

"N-Naruto-kun! What are they doing?" Hinata cried.

"I dunno," he shrugged, "I think they're gonna sing a song or something."

"_Yoriko Gloop!" _chanted the Oompa-Loompas.

"_Yoriko Gloop! Yoriko Gloop!_

_The fat and greedy nincompoop!_

'_Come on!' we cried, 'the time is ripe_

_To send her shooting up the pipe!'_

_But don't, dear children, be alarmed;_

_Yoriko Glupu will not be harmed,_

_Although, of course, we must admit_

_She will be altered quite a bit._

_Slowly, wheels go round and round,_

_The cogs begin to grind and pound;_

_A hundred knives go slice, slice, slice;_

_We add some sugar, cream, and spice._

_This greedy brute, this louse's ear,_

_Is loved by people everywhere!_

_For who could bear to hold a grudge_

_Against a luscious bit of fudge?"_

"Did I tell you they loved _singing_? I can't believe I forgot it! Well…I suppose you know now!" Wonka-san said as he applauded their song. "C'mon everybody! No time to dilly or dally! We've got so much more to see!" he began to walk off.

"A-are the Oompa-Loompas joking, Naruto-kun?" Hinata said worriedly, "They're joking…right?"

"O-of course they're joking, t-they couldn't be serious. I'm sure that girl will be fine" Naruto answered. Hinata walked ahead, quite relieved. Naruto, on the other hand, walked slowly, a disturbed look on his face.

"T-They're joking…of course they are…t-this place is crazy!" he said, catching up to the group.


	11. 11: Down the Chocolate River

**11: Down the Chocolate River to the Inventing Room**

"Off we go!" cried Wonka-san. "Hurry up, everybody! Follow me to the next room! We'll have to take the next part of the journey by boat! Ooh, here she comes now! Look!"

A steamy mist was rising up now from the great warm chocolate river, and out of the mist there suddenly appeared a most fantastic light brown boat. It was a large open rowing boat with a tall front and a tall back (Like a Viking ship), and it glistened a rich, golden brown colour, almost like caramel. There were many oars on either side of it, and as it came closer the children noticed that the oars were being pulled by masses of Oompa-Loompas, all of their head protectors glinting.

"This is my private yacht!" said Wonka-san, beaming with pleasure. "It's actually only on loan to me. I procured it from a wonderful boat builder in the Wave country. It's constructed entirely out of the country's national candy!" he finished with a titter.

"Salt water taffy!" Naruto cried out.

Wonka-san stared at the boy, his eyes sparkling, "Precisely! Boy, for being so short, you've certainly got potential! Not like the rest of the shorties here!"

"We can't help that we're short!" Masaru Kawasaki said angrily, "We're kids!"

"Well that's no excuse…I was never short as a child! I distinctly recall wearing a very tall hat that none of you would be able to reach with your tiny little arms! Now, all aboard!" Wonka-san said as the boat pulled up to the riverbank. One after another the children climbed aboard. Naruto and Hinata went to the back of the boat and sat down.

"I-Isn't this…marvelous, Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, her face turning red as the two sat close to each other. Naruto turned to her and nodded, a big grin on his face.

Suddenly, Wonka-san, who was sitting on Hinata's other side, reached down to the bottom of the boat and pulled out a large mug, dipped it into the river, filled it with chocolate, and handed it to Hinata. "Drink this," he said. "It'll do you good! You look starved to death!"

Then Wonka-san filled a second mug and handed it to Naruto. "You too," he said, "you look like you could use a bit as well. What's the matter? Aren't they feeding you two right in Konoha? You look like a skeleton, little girl!"

"T-t-there hasn't been much to eat…" Hinata mumbled. She put the mug to her lips, and as the rich warm creamy chocolate ran down her throat into her empty tummy, her whole body from head to toe began to tingle with pleasure, and a feeling of intense happiness spread over her.

"You like?" asked Wonka-san.

"Oh, it's wonderful!" Hinata cried.

"The creamiest loveliest chocolate I've ever tasted!" Naruto said licking his lips, his face becoming rosy.

"That's because it's mixed by waterfall!" Wonka-san said proudly. He turned to the other children. "The waterfall is most important! It mixes my chocolate, churns it up, and makes it light and frothy! In fact, no other factory in the world…"

"You said that already!" Souya Ikari interrupted.

A look of hesitation appeared on Wonka-san's face. "Just thought I'd wanna get that point home to you…" he mumbled.

The boat sped on down the river. The boat began to enter a dark tunnel. "Full speed ahead!" Wonka-san cried to the Oompa-Loompas, who rowed even faster, sending them speeding down the pitch-black tunnel.

"How can they see where they're going!" shrieked Tomoe Bulnose in the darkness.

"There's no knowing where they're going!" cried Wonka-san, hooting with laughter. He began to hum a little tune in the darkness, just audible enough for all of the children to hear.

"There's no earthly way of knowing… Which direction they are going… 

_Not a speck of light is showing,_

_So the danger must be growing,_

_For the rowers keep on rowing,_

_Will the winds of change be blowing?_

_Are the fires of hell be showing_

_Any signs that they are slowing!_

"He's gone crazy!" shouted Tomoe's mother, aghast, and the others joined in a chorus of frightened shouting in the darkness. "He's crazy!" they shouted.

"He's nutty!"

"He's mental!"

"He's batty!"

"He's wacky!"

"He's insane!"

"He's loony!"

"_Urusei! He is NOT!_" screamed Hinata, which surprised everyone since Hinata had been so quiet over the course of the tour.

"Switch on the lights! We're here!" shouted Wonka-san. And suddenly, on came the lights and the whole tunnel was brilliantly lit up, and Hinata could see that the tunnel was actually an enormous _pipe!_ The Oompa-Loompa's furious pace was slowing, the boat was coming to a stop. The children could see a large, round steel door coming up to the left of them.

"Stop the boat! This is where we get off!" Wonka-san cried raising his hands into the air. The Oompa-Loompas guided the boat alongside the steel door. On the door it said, _Inventing Room! Private! Keep Out! _Wonka-san took a key from his pocket, leaned over the side of the boat, and put the key in the keyhole.

"_This _is the most important room in the entire factory!" he said. "All of my most secret new inventions are cooking and simmering in here! All those other rotten, no good, spying and swindling candy makers would give up an arm and a leg to be allowed inside here for just three minutes! So would that despicable Urami H'coro and his like!" he said with a shudder. Hinata's eyes lit up at the mention of the man she had met on the street the other night. "But now, listen to me! I want no messing about when you go in! You can have all the fun you want, just so long as you don't touch, taste, or muck about with anything in this room! Is that agreed?"

"Yes, yes!" the children cried. "We won't touch a thing!"

"Up to now," Wonka-san said, "nobody else, not even an Oompa-Loompa, has ever been allowed in here!" he opened the door and stepped out of the boat into the room. The four children and their guests all scrambled after him.

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga started around the gigantic room in which she now found herself. The place was like an enormous laboratory! All around her steel pots were boiling and bubbling on huge stoves, and kettles were hissing and pans were sizzling, and strange silver machines were clanking and spluttering, and there were pipes running all over the ceiling and walls, and the whole place was filled with smoke and steam and delicious rich smells.

Wonka-san himself had suddenly become even more excited than usual, and anyone could see that this was the room that he loved most of all. He was hopping about among the saucepans and test tubes and machines like a child among birthday presents.

"Oi, Wonka-san!" Masaru Kawasaki yelled from across the room. He was rapping on a large glass tub that was filled with clear liquid. "What's this?" he asked.

Wonka-san ran up to the tub, which was at least the size of a small swimming pool, and beamed proudly. He pointed into the tub for all the children to see. At the bottom there were several green little spheres about the size of a marble. Wonka-san fished on of them out with his purple rubber fingers.

"Everlasting Gobstoppers!" he cried proudly. "They're completely new! It's been occurring to me that a good percentage of the world's children live in shinobi villages, where they're allowed very little pocket money and even less candy. So, I invented these! You can suck on an Everlasting Gobstopper for as long as you want and it won't _ever _get any smaller! Never ever _ever!_"

"It's like gum!" said Tomoe Bulnose.

"Ah, _no!_" Wonka-san said. "Gum is for chewing. If you tried to chew one of these little guys, you'd break all of your little teeth right off! But they taste terrific! They change colour once a week and they never get any smaller!

"Now over here," Wonka-san went on, skipping excitedly across the room to the opposite wall, "over here I'm inventing a brand new line of toffees!" He reached into a machine and pulled out a little cube of light brown toffee.

"Hair toffee! Now, if you suck down one of _these _little boogers, in exactly half an hour a brand new crop of hair will start growing right out of your little noggin! And a moustache! And a _beard!_" he cried joyfully, as if there was no thing greater.

"Who would ever want a beard!" Souya Ikari called out.

Wonka-san pondered for a second or two, "Well…beatniks for one, motorbike riders I would suppose, sea captains, I've heard that the five Kages are quite fond of beards, y'know, all of those hip groovy cats out there!" he said finally.

"Now," he continued, "over _here_, if you'd step this way, I will show you something that I am terrifically proud of. Oh, do be careful! Don't knock anything over! Stand back!"

Wonka-san led them over to a gigantic machine that stood in the very center of the Inventing Room. It was a mountain of gleaming metal that towered high above the children and their guests. Out of the very top there sprouted hundreds and hundreds of tiny glass tubes, and the glass tubes all curled downwards and came together in a bunch and hung suspended over an enormous round tub as big as a bath. Hinata had never seen so much metal and glass bunched together like that in her entire life!

"Here we go! Magic time!" cried Wonka-san. He then turned his back to group as he hunched over part of the machine. Hinata could just see that he was working his hands furiously, almost as if he was forming hand seals. Finally, there was a loud _Clang _and Hinata saw that he'd brought his hands down on the machine's surface. A second later, a mighty rumbling noise came from inside it, and the whole machine started to shake most frighteningly. Steam began hissing out all over, and then suddenly the watchers noticed that runny stuff was pouring down the insides of all of the many little glass tubes and squirting into the great tub below. The rumbling sound disappeared and a whizzing noise took its place. The machine began to shake more and more violently now. Some of the guests stepped back, fearing it would explode. But Wonka-san just stood right next to it, grinning expectantly.

"Watch!" he cried.

The machine suddenly ceased its rumbling and shaking and whizzing. It issued forth a little _ping _and a small slot at the front of the machine slid out. The slot was quite small, only about an inch wide. Out of the slot popped something so small and thin and grey that everyone thought it must be a mistake. The thing looked like a tiny strip of grey cardboard.

"That's it!" Masaru Kawasaki said sarcastically.

"Um, do you even know what _it _is?" Wonka-san asked.

"It's gum!" said Tomoe Bulnose enthusiastically.

"_Wrong!_" Wonka-san cried. "It's the most _amazing _and _fabulous _and _sensational _gum in the whole world!"


	12. 12: So Long Tomoe

_Author's Note: Wow…s'been a while since one of these. For those who've made it this far, congratulations! I'm fantastically happy that you've stuck to this particular fanfic for this long, bravo! On a sadder note, my time spent writing this fanfic has caused me to neglect other things, such as getting a job and earning a living. Now, being somewhat impoverished (I'm exaggerating greatly), I've decided to seek employment once again. This might be the last chapter for a little bit, as updates will probably become less frequent. Stay tuned and be patient. I'm determined to finish this story with as much class as I can. Thanks once again, dear reader._

_Kiel_

**12: So Long Tomoe**

"_This gum,_" Wonka-san went on, "is my latest, my greatest, my most fascinating invention! It's a chewing gum meal! This tiny strip of chewing gum here is a whole three-course dinner all by itself!"

"That's impossible! It's total nonsense!" Masaru's father said.

"My dear sir!" cried Wonka-san, "When I start selling this gum in shops it will change _everything! _I came up with the idea when I thought of all the children (and adults alike) who are shinobi and go off on long, arduous missions with hardly anything to eat! It made me sad to think of all the young ninjas out there, having to eat those beastly rations that they're supplied with! It simply wouldn't do! So I came up with this gum! This _particular _strip of gum happens to be steamy rice, barbequed pork, and blueberry pie!"

"What do you _mean, _it's steamy rice, barbequed pork, and blueberry pie?" asked Tomoe Bulnose.

"If you were to start chewing it," said Wonka-san, "then that's exactly what you would get! It's absolutely amazing! You can _feel _the food going down your throat and into your stomach! You can taste it perfectly It fills you up, it satisfies you! Isn't it fantastic?"

"It's utterly impossible!" Souya Ikari said.

At that moment Tomoe Bulnose took the record gum she'd been chewing out of her mouth and stuck it behind her ear. Then, quickly, she reached out her little hand and grabbed the stick of gum!

"Ah! Little girl!" Wonka-san said as he noticed. "I'd rather you not take it. You see, I haven't got it _quite right _yet. There are still a couple things…"

"I'm a record breaking gum chewer," she said defiantly, "and _I'm _not afraid of anything!" and before Wonka-san could stop her she popped the gum into her mouth. At once, her well-trained jaws started chewing away on it. Wonka-san gave a bit of a grimace and began to shy away from her.

"How is it, Tomoe-chan?" Bulnose-san asked her daughter.

"It's amazing! Hot, steamy rice with sauce! I can feel it going down my throat!" she shouted.

"Yeah, isn't that great, spit it out!" Wonka-san said.

"It's changing!" Tomoe shouted again. "The second course is coming up! It's barbequed pork! It's tender and juicy! Oh boy, what a flavour!"

"Tomoe-chan, that's _wonderful!_" the girl's mother said happily. "Imagine, my daughter is the world's first to have a chewing gum meal!"

Everyone stood there watching Tomoe Bulnose as she chewed the extraordinary gum. Hinata Hyuuga was staring at her absolutely spellbound, watching her huge rubbery lips as they pressed and unpressed with the chewing, and Naruto stood beside her, gaping at the girl. Wonka-san was looking quite worried, saying "Yeah, it's great, all up until…"

"Blueberry pie and cream!" shouted Tomoe.

"…that." Wonka-san finished with a bit of a sigh.

"Here it comes! Oh, it's perfect! It's beautiful! It's…exactly as though I'm swallowing it! It's as though I'm chewing and swallowing great big spoonfuls of the most marvelous blueberry pie in the world!"

"What's wrong with her face!" Masaru said loudly, pointing at Tomoe.

"Y-your face is turning _blue!_" shrieked her mother, "Your face is as blue as a blueberry!"

"What do you mean?" asked Tomoe, still chewing away.

"I tried to tell you…" Wonka-san said quietly, retreating behind everyone else.

Everybody was staring at Tomoe. She looked up at her hands, which were turning blue. The shade of purplish blue was spreading all over her body like some kind of abhorrent rash. "M-mother…" Tomoe said frightened, staring at her body, "W-what's happening to me!" Her entire body had turned a brilliant, purplish blue; the colour of blueberry juice.

"Tomoe!" screamed her mother, "You're swelling up!"

"Dear God," Hito Kawasaki said aghast, "she's blowing up like a balloon!"

"Somebody save her!" shrieked Tomoe's mother.

But there was no saving her now. Her body was swelling up and changing shape at such a rate that within a minute it had turned into an enormous round ball (a gigantic blueberry, in fact) and all that remained of Tomoe Bulnose herself was a tiny pair of legs and a tiny pair of arms sticking out of the great round orb and a little head on top. Tomoe's body had almost completely absorbed all of her! Tomoe's mother walked backwards slowly in terror. As she did, Wonka-san had sneaked up right behind her.

"I've tried it on like thirty Oompa-Loompas and all of them came out as blueberries! It's like the darndest thing!" he said, scaring Tomoe's mother out of her wits.

"But I can't have a blueberry for a daughter!" the girl's mother screamed, "Put her back to normal this instant!"

Wonka-san made the same odd call with his tongue as he did before, and ten Oompa-Loompas appeared immediately at his side. "Roll Tomoe-san into the boat and take her along to the juicing room immediately" he said to them.

"The _Juicing Room!_" cried Bulnose-san. "What are they going to do to her there!"

"Well…they're gonna _squeeze _her," Wonka-san said with a smile, "like a little pimple! We've got to get all that juice out of her right away, or else she might _explode!_" he finished with a tiny laugh.

Already the ten Oompa-Loompas were rolling the enormous blueberry body of Tomoe across the floor of the Inventing room toward the door that led to the chocolate river where the boat was waiting. Tomoe's mother raced after them, helping them to squeeze Tomoe's massive flesh through the frame of the steel door. The rest of the party, including Hinata and Naruto, stood absolutely still and watched them go.

"Huh…" Wonka-san said, looking around as if he was a bit befuddled, "I thought for _sure _that the Oompa-Loompas would try to do something mischievous, or…sing a song or something…Oop! I spoke too soon," he smiled again, "here comes a few of them now!"

A few more Oompa-Loompas appeared in a cloud of smoke to try and help the others squeeze Tomoe through the doorway, as she was quite stuck and growing bigger by the minute. As they rolled and pushed, some of them began to hum. Soon, the room was filled with rhythm; all of the Oompa-Loompa's singing together could be heard loud and clear:

"Dear friends, we surely all agree 

_There's almost nothing worse to see_

_Than some little repulsive bum_

_Who's always chewing chewing gum._

_So please believe us when we say_

_That chewing gum will never pay;_

_The sticky habit's bound to send_

_Miss Tomoe to a sticky end._

_So that's why we'll do all we can_

_To save our little Tomoe-chan_

_From suffering a grisly fate._

_She's still quite young. It's not too late,_

_Provided she survives the cure._

_We hope she does. We can't be sure."_

With the final verse the Oompa-Loompas gave a great push and _popped _Tomoe Bulnose out of the door and into the ship. Her distraught mother followed the Oompa-Loompas as they exited.

"Okay…well," Wonka-san said thoughtfully as he looked upon the rest of the children, "well, well, well, two naughty little kids gone. Three _good _little kids left! Fantastic!" he smiled, clapping his hands together. "Come on, let's keep moving! There's _so _much time and _so _little to do!" he began to walk off.

Naruto looked down to see that Hinata's hands were shaking. She simply stood, rooted to the ground, transfixed.

"Oi, Hinata-chan, Wonka-san is going! We should try to keep up," he said, taking her hand.

"Eh? Oh, r-right!" she said as she started to move. The followed the group hand in hand.

Hinata looked forward to see her own hand held tight by Naruto's, feeling his soft, warm palm against hers. _I-Is this the first time we've held hands? _Hinata thought to herself.

She smiled. She was pretty sure it was.


	13. 13: Wonkasan's Flashback

_Author's Note: Oh my God…so…so very tired…can't…write…anymore! But must…creatively…retell…slash…reinvent…Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…with…ninjas!_

…_I'll be fine. Coffee makes all better. Please leave a review. Please, I'm a desperate review fiend who loves to hear people critique his work. Thank you._

**13: Wonka-san's Flashback Along the Corridor**

The three remaining children and their guest followed Wonka-san down a winding corridor as he pressed them to keep up. After the loss of two people so far, Hinata couldn't have been more full of questions about the factory and its inner workings. She apparently wasn't alone, as both of the other ticket winners began to ask questions as well. They fired them off to Wonka-san as they hurried along the corridor.

"Wonka-san," Naruto asked, "will Tomoe _really _be okay? Or will she be a blueberry for the rest of her life?"

Wonka-san smiled, "Of course not…maybe…I dunno!" he said gleefully as he strided along.

"If you and the Oompa-Loompas hate gum so much, _why _do you make it in your factory?" Masaru Kawasaki asked.

"What else will we be seeing on this tour?" asked Souya Ikari.

"W-what…" Hinata mumbled, trying to think of the best and least offensive question, "what was…d-do you remember the first candy y-you ever had, Wonka-san? W-when you were younger." She managed at last.

Wonka-san stopped slowly and turned to her, a vacant look on his face. "No…I don't remember…" he said a little sadly.

* * *

_In fact, _Wonka-san _DID _remember the very first candy he ever had. His memory wasn't fuzzy in the slightest. He remembered much of his childhood in great detail. This was probably due to the fact that he had _detested _his childhood, as it had been a very sad and traumatic time in his life.

Willy Wonka-san thought back to when he was just a few years younger than the children he had invited to his factory. He remembered wearing clothes that were very bland, uninteresting, and itchy. He remembered standing in a very large, very dark, and very cold room. There were giant stone pillars supporting the ceiling, each was adorned with a torch, which supplied the massive room with light.

He remembered holding something very cold and sharp in his hand; a cold, black, metal thing. A kunai knife. He was holding onto the handle very tightly and thrusting it in different directions. Every time he brought the blade down from over his head, he felt himself teeter forward a bit. The knife was very heavy in his hands and set him off balance. Despite this, he continued to swing it about. Finally, he spun around quickly, releasing the blade from his hand and sending it flying away. It hurtled through the air, landing with a dull _thunk _into a large target of wood.

Little Willy-kun gasped for breath, exhausted from his training. His forehead, face, chest, and underarms were wet with perspiration. Willy remembered closing his eyes, which stung from the oily sweat. He forced them open despite the stinging and looked across the room. The wooden target he had set up had two kunai embedded in its surface. Neither of them were anywhere near the bulls eye. Several kunai lay scattered on the ground nearby the target.

_"…Kuso…" _Willy-kun said, _"stupid kunai practice…I'll never get any better…I don't _want _to get any better." _He finished.

Willy-kun sighed. Then he looked around, as if searching for someone. Willy remembered that he wasn't looking for someone per say, he was _making sure _no one was around. Checking if the coast was clear. Once Willy-kun was satisfied, he reached into one of the pockets of his itchy clothes and pulled out a small paper bag. The bag was simple, made of ordinary brown paper, but Willy remembered that what was _inside _of it was immensely important.

He opened the bag, carefully, as not to let the paper crinkle too much, creating a sound. Reaching in as carefully as he could, he pulled out something and held it tight in his fist. He brought his hand very close to his face and slowly opened his palm.

It was a small ball wrapped in bright metal foil. As ordinary as it seemed, Willy-kun's eyes lit up with a tremendous light, as if there wasn't a more beautiful sight in the world. He started to unwrap the foil-covered ball when…

"_Willy-kun…what do you have there?" _a cold voice came from directly behind him. Willy-kun tensed as he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder. He clenched his fist tight around the ball and dropped the bag. Fear crept over and along his spine, tingling its way down his back. Willy-kun felt the hand wheel him around.

He stood face to face with his father.

"_What do you have in the bag Willy-kun?" _his father asked.

"_I-I-It's n-n-nothing…" _he stammered.

"_Willy-kun…what have I told you about lies? Tell me…what are lies?" _his father asked coldly.

Willy's mind sagged. He remembered what his father told him on the subject quite well. His memory wasn't fuzzy after all. He trembled and spoke his father's words verbatim:

"_Lies are devious things that fool the weak-minded." _he said.

"_Too true," _said his father, _"Now Willy-kun, do you think of me as weak-minded? Am I a simpleton to you!"_

"_N-No father! N-no, I don't! Y-you aren't!" _stammered Willy-kun.

"_Then why must you continually lie to me! You insult me when you do it! Now, let me see what you have here…" _his father said, reaching for the bag beside Willy-kun. His father opened the bag with one hand and poured its colourful contents into the other. Willy-kun turned his eyes away from his father. His father's eyes lit up, a grin spreading across his face.

"_Where did you get this?" _asked his father coldly.

Willy-kun said nothing.

"_Tell me where you got this!" _his father demanded, his voice much harsher now.

"…_I-I-I-In t-the v-v-v-village" _Willy-kun mustered the words,_ "at the m-m-marketplace…"_

Willy-kun turned to see the glistening foils and bright colourful shapes that now rested in his father's open palm. His father's grin became a sneer.

"…_Candy? Chocolate! Is _this _what you've been spending your money on!" _his father yelled. _"It's things like _these _that breed childishness, stupidity, and _weakness!_" _he bellowed the last word. It was something his father detested more than anything.

"_Now then, we'll have no more of…" _his father motioned towards the little pile in his palm, _"…this!" _and with that the little pile burst into a plume of green flame! The candy bubbled and blackened in his father's hand. Then, his father tossed it to the side. Willy-kun's eyes were wide in horror.

His father turned his back to him. _"Continue training…your form is not solid enough, your movements are wasteful, and your aim is terrible. Improve them and prove to me that you are truly my son…" _

With that, his father walked away, disappearing into the darkness.

As soon as his Father was out of sight, Willy-kun dashed for the burning remains of his candy. The fire had been extinguished, leaving a smoldering hunk of blackish green remains. Willy-kun dropped onto his knees and scooped the hunk up with his hands, hoping against hope that it was salvageable. It fell apart in his hands, becoming nothing more than soot.

Willy-kun just sat there a moment, staring at what had once been a bag of sweets. Tears welled up in his eyes, he pounded his fist to the ground.

"_Kuso! Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN! I didn't even get to try a tiny bit! I'll never be able to have some…EVER!" _he cried, sobbing against the ground.

Then he felt something tight against his fist.

He raised his clenched fist to his face and, trembling, slowly opened it.

Inside of his palm was the small foil wrapped ball. It was slightly crushed, but very much intact. It was whole. It was untouched.

Willy-kun unwrapped it to reveal a small ball of creamy brown chocolate. He raised his hands to his mouth and ate it up in one bite. He chewed the ball for as long as it would allow, then swallowed it.

In the short time it was in his mouth, the flavour had spread all over his tongue and through his body. He felt warmth, pleasure, and pure and utter delight as he ate the chocolate. All of the terrible and awful things that had just transpired seemed as if they had never happened for those few brief moments when the chocolate was on his tongue.

_Truly, _he thought, _this is true happiness!_

Wonka-san remembered that moment well.

* * *

"W-Wonka-san? Wonka-san?" a voice called out.

Willy Wonka-san sprang to life, as if coming out of a deep trance. "Sorry?" he said blearily.

"You kind of spaced out for a while there" Masaru said hotly.

"Sorry, I was having a flashback…" Wonka-san mumbled dreamily, staring off into space.

"Do those happen often?" Hito Kawasaki asked in the same manner as his son had done.

"_Increasingly_…today!" he said at last. He shook himself out, seeming to come back to life. "Oh dear, I've gone and wasted several precious seconds of time that could have been spent wasted away looking at one of my marvelous rooms in my marvelous factory! We've got to get a move on!" Wonka-san cried. He then pointed forward down the corridor and began walking at such a pace that it was somewhat difficult for everyone to keep up with him.


	14. 14: Masaru and the Puppets

_Author's Note: Well, here it is, another chapter of this little story. Wow, we're in double digits in terms of chapters now…fantastic! Now, please leave a review after reading this. Your reviews contribute to the karmic drive that fuels this story. Funding for "Hinata and the Chocolate Factory" is provided by a grant from "The Cheat" and made possible by reviews from "Viewers Like You". Thank you._

**14: Masaru and the Puppets**

Wonka-san rushed on down the corridor. _The Puppet Room, _it said on the next door they come to. The door was covered in a variety of safety and warning stickers printed in a variety of languages. A few that Hinata could read said "Danger! Enter at your own risk!" and "Chakra in use! Warning!"

"All right," said Wonka-san, "stop here for a moment and catch your breath, and take a peek through the glass panel of this door. But don't go in! Whatever you do, don't go into The Puppet Room. If you do, you might disturb the delicate processes!"

Everyone crowded around the door.

"Oh look, Naruto-kun, look!" cried Hinata.

"They're puppets!" shouted Masaru Kawasaki.

Souya Ikari remained silent as the others gaped and gasped.

It was an amazing sight. Dozens of lanky, wooden carved puppets worked about in the room. They looked elegant but somewhat frightening, their facial features lifeless. Each of the puppets stood about three two four feet high. They carefully worked in a brightly lit room, gently carrying pots full of bubbling liquids and pouring chemicals from one test tube to another. The scene was similar to the Inventing Room, only with far less noise and excitement. In fact, as far as Hinata could tell, the room was absolutely silent.

"Oi, Wonka-san!" Naruto tugged on his sleeve, "I recognize those puppets! I knew a shinobi from the Sand that used puppets like that. He was in our Chuunin exam!"

"Ah yes!" cried Wonka-san, "I believe I know the boy you're talking about. I procured these puppets from a village elder in the Sunagakure village (Hidden Sand Village). They cost a terrible amount to create, but I was more than willing to extend a favour or two to the Kazekage in return"

"W-what kind of favours?" Hinata asked.

"Well," Wonka-san said happily as he brought a hand to his chin, "a lifetime supply of luminous lollies, a…lifetime supply of candy bars, hmmm…something about franchise rights…mostly candy for life though"

"How do they work?" Masaru asked impatiently, "Do they run on batteries? I don't see any strings or anything…" he stared through the glass, looking intently for some sign of how they worked.

"Oh, they're controlled by strings," Wonka-san began, "but not ordinary strings. _Chakra strings_ are used. All of these puppets are led along by a series of strings made out of precisely controlled chakra. If you look up," Wonka-san pointed into the room towards the ceiling, "You'll see a small hole. Right above that is a workstation where I have an Oompa-Loompa puppeteer controlling all of the puppets. It takes an enormous amount of chakra control and concentration. The worker up there is one of the greatest and most skilled Oompa-Loompas living here" he finished proudly.

Hinata focused her eyes a bit, concentrating on the puppets. She felt blood rush through her temples as she activated the Byakugan. Suddenly, she was able to see the chakra running through the puppets. She could see the fine strings of glowing blue chakra running from each of their limbs up towards the ceiling. It was an amazing sight.

"But why are you using puppets here, Wonka-san?" Naruto asked, "Why not just Oompa-Loompas?"

"Because," replied Wonka-san, "The candies and formulas that I'm working on in this room are somewhat hazardous. This is where I test candies that could potentially harm people. It's _far _too dangerous a job to have my Oompa-Loompas trying out and working on things like _exploding lollipops _or _acid sour jujubes. _So, I have these puppets working on them so no one will be harmed".

The children continued to look through the glass, watching the amazing puppets perform their dangerous tests. One puppet had a box of what looked like taffy. It opened the wrapper of one piece, swaying in a puppet-like fashion, and then it took the taffy in its hands and stretched it. The taffy exploded in the puppets face! Covered in soot, the puppet swayed over to the box of taffy, picked it up, and threw it across the room where it fell down a hole right in the middle of the floor.

"See, unsafe products are tossed down that garbage chute in the middle of the room." Wonka-san said gleefully.

The children continued to watch the puppets test products, watching them approve some and discard others, sending them down the garbage chute.

"Oto-san!" Masaru said to his father, "I've just decided that I want a puppet! Get me one of those puppets!"

"Don't be foolish, Masaru-kun," said Kawasaki-san, "These belong to Wonka-san."

"I don't care about that!" shouted Masaru, "I want one! I've got nothing of the sort at home! None of my stupid old toys are _this _interesting! I want a _puppet!_"

"All right Masaru-kun," Kawasaki-san said soothingly. "Your father will get you a puppet just as soon as he possibly can."

"But I don't want _any _old puppet!" Masaru shouted, "I want one of _those! _One that moves with chakra strings!"

At this point, Kawasaki-san stepped forward. "Very well, Wonka," he said importantly, taking out a wallet full of money, "how much do you want for one of these crazy puppets? Money is no matter, name your price."

"Oh, they're not for sale," Wonka-san replied, "He can't have one!"

Kawasaki-san turned to his son, a sort of helpless look on his face.

"If _you _won't get me a puppet, I'll just have to go in and get one _myself!_" shouted Masaru.

"Don't!" said Wonka-san quickly, but he was too late. The boy had already thrown open the door and rushed in.

The moment he entered the room, several puppets stopped what they were doing and turned their heads and stared at him with their small, black, beady, lifeless eyes. Masaru had also stopped, and stared back at them. Then his gaze fell upon a short little puppet nearest to him at the end of a table. The puppet was still working, taking no notice of the intruding boy.

"All right," Masaru said, "I'll have _you!_"

He reached out his hands to grab the puppet around the middle…but as he did so…in that first split second when her hands started to go forward, there was a flash of sudden movement. The puppet he'd reached for swiveled around. It opened its rectangular puppet mouth and emitted a horrible screech, like the sound of a metal gate opening if it hasn't been oiled in decades. A dreadful squeal. Suddenly something shot out of the puppet's mouth, hitting Masaru squarely in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards.

"Oh…well _that's _new!" Wonka-san said excitedly. "I guess the puppets still have a few armaments that Chiyo-Baba forgot to uninstall…hmmm"

Wonka-san was correct. Many of the puppets turned from their workstations and swayed towards Masaru. They raised their arms towards him, their hands retracting into their wrists. Out of their wrists popped a variety of different looking tools and devices: some were equipped with knives, others with spinning saws that made a horrible buzzing noise. There was even one that had a small, yellow rubber thing that reminded Hinata of a rubber duck. All of these things certainly looked menacing to Masaru.

"O-Oto-san! Help me!" he cried as the puppets advanced on him. The party looked absolutely aghast at what they were witnessing through the glass of the door.

"Can't you do anything!" Hito Kawasaki pleaded to Wonka-san.

"Um…I dunno…probably not…" he said with a little shrug.

At that moment, almost all of the puppets had encircled Masaru as he lay on the ground. The moved forward and pinned him; three puppets grabbing his left arm, three puppets holding his right. His legs were held securely by about five lanky puppets with sharp, gnashing teeth. One puppet, the one Hinata suspected (and was right about) having a rubber duck for a hand, moved towards Masaru's head.

"Oh dear," Wonka-san cried, "It looks as if they're going to test the boy…"

"Test him!" Kawasaki-san cried. "What for!"

"Well, it's the puppet's job to find defective products" Wonka-san said. "If they deem your son defective…well…" he trailed off.

The one puppet leaned over and looked down at Masaru's terrified face. It raised its arm into the air and brought its hand down on Masaru's head with a satisfying _squeak! _It did this several times more, tapping the rubber duck against the boy's head, as if checking for something.

Finally the puppet stopped, and issued a low groan to his fellow puppets.

"Oh dear…" Wonka-san gasped "…I think he _was_ defective after all"

The puppets turned and lifted Masaru off of the floor and hoisted his struggling body up. Masaru kicked and screamed as they carried him. "Oto-_san!_ I want them to stop! Make them stop this instant! _F-Father!_"

All together, the puppets carried Masaru over to the garbage chute, and chucked him in! Everyone heard a scream trail after him, slowly growing quieter as he descended. With that, the puppets turned around and headed back to their duties.

"M-Masaru-_kun!_" the boy's father yelled after him. He quickly turned to Wonka-san. "Wonka-san, where does that chute lead? Where'd my son go?"

"That chute?" Wonka-san asked, pointing to the hole in the ground. "_That _chute, my dear man, leads down to the garbage pit, which in turn, leads to the incinerator"

"The _incinerator!_" Kawasaki-san screamed. "You'll roast my son alive!"

"No good sir, I'd never dream of it!" Wonka-san said reproachfully. "The incinerator shouldn't be lit, as it is only lit every Thursday"

"B-but today _is _T-Thursday!" cried Hinata.

"Oh…" Wonka-san said slowly, "well, in that case, I'm sure there's a chance they might not have lit it today. There might be a build up of garbage in that chute. If that's the case, I'm sure you could just reach down and pull your son out!"

Kawasaki-san nodded. He looked hesitantly towards the door, finally pushing it open. He slowly entered the room, looking back and forth towards the puppets and the garbage chute he had lost his son in. Hinata watched as he walked at a snail's pace towards the chute. As he approached the chute a small puppet turned from what it was doing and snuck up behind him.

"Oi! K-Kawasaki-san! Behind you!" Hinata called to him, banging on the glass of the door. But the man didn't hear her, and leaned over the chute to find his son.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion to Hinata. The puppet crept up to Kawasaki-san and, with the tiniest little nudge, sent him falling down the chute as well!

Hinata gasped as she watched him fall. The puppet, its task completed, turned again back to its work.

Suddenly, something caught Hinata's eye from above. She saw a circular portion of the ceiling begin to descend. It was lowered into the room by long metal poles. On the other side of the section sat a small person with an extremely long beard. The little man was postured in a very Buddhist-like way. Hinata could see him flicking his fingers every now and then.

"Ah, the master of chakra control I told you children about" Wonka-san said beaming, "this Oompa-Loompa is the puppeteer to all of those puppets! Just imagine the amount of concentration something like that would take! Oooh, everyone, look! It seems like he's doing something to the puppets!"

Wonka-san was right. The puppeteer brought his hands up and began wriggle them about. As he did, each of the puppets began to sway and move on their strings. They did a sort of lopsided jig as the Oompa-Loompa began to sing:

"_Masaru-kun, the little brute,_

_Has just gone down the garbage chute,_

_And there he'll meet as he descends,_

_A rather different set of friends._

_Of all the things been thrown away,_

_Like ruined taffy just today,_

_Or some toffee nobody could chew,_

_Some lollies that would make you spew,_

_And lots of other things as well,_

_Each with a rather horrid smell._

_But now, my dears, we think you might,  
Be wondering–is it really right  
That every single bit of blame,  
And all the scolding and the shame_

_Should fall upon this beastly child, _

_A person rotten and defiled,_

_For though he's spoiled, and dreadfully so,  
_A boy can't spoil himself, you know.  
_Who spoiled him, then? Ah, who indeed?  
Who pandered to his every need?  
Who turned him into such a brat?  
Who are the culprits? Who did that?  
Alas! You needen't look so far  
To find out who these sinners are.  
They are (and this is very sad)  
His loving parent, dear old DAD.  
And that is why we're glad he fell  
Into the garbage chute as well."_

"My goodness!" Wonka-san said jovially, "Wasn't that a good song? Very well thought out indeed. Improvisation is a parlor trick. Have I said that already? I can't quite remember…"

At that moment, an Oompa-Loompa walked up to Wonka-san and tugged on his pant leg. He bent over and let the little man whisper in his ear.

"Oh good!" he smiled and turned to the party, "I've just been informed that the incinerator is broken, and that there's about a weeks worth of garbage to break those two's fall. Isn't that wonderful? Yay!" he clapped his gloved hands together.

"S-so they'll be alright?" Hinata asked, worried.

"My dear, I'm sure they'll be fine…yeah, pretty sure," he smiled, "C'mon, we've wasted so much time as it is. Let's keep on trucking! Keep on tranglin', or whatever it is you kids say today!"


	15. 15: The Great Glass Elevator

_Author's Note: Okay, another chapter! This fic is slowly but surely reaching a conclusion. Now, I've gotten a few reviews saying that my story is too close to the original and needs to be more different. Well random reviewers, I couldn't agree with you more. I decided to stick as close to the story as possible to keep true to Roald Dahl's work. I kept the first two children's fates the same (mostly because those two scenes are my favourites) and changed the thirds a bit. The fourth child's end will be completely different, as will most of the story from there. So look forward!_

**15: The Great Glass Elevator**

"This is incredible!" Wonka-san said as they hurried along another hallway. "Children are disappearing like rabbits! There's only two of you left!" He turned and looked back to Hinata Hyuuga and Souya Ikari. "I see we're also rid of all the older folk as well," he smiled at Naruto, "which is much easier to deal with in my opinion. Now, let's see what we can do now…"

He turned down another hallway quickly. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before! It'll be much faster to see the factory by elevator". Wonka-san skipped across the passage to a pair of double doors. The doors slid open. The three children went in followed by Wonka-san.

"Now," he said, "which button shall we push first? Take your pick!"

Hinata stared around her in astonishment. While she hadn't seen many elevators in her life, she knew this one was drastically different than the ones she'd seen. There were buttons _everywhere! _The walls, and even the ceiling, were covered with rows upon rows of small, little push buttons. Each button was transparent and looked like it was made out of plastic. There must have been a thousand of them of them on each wall, and another thousand on the ceiling! Hinata also noticed that every single button had a tiny printed label beside it telling you which room you would be taken to if you pressed it.

"There can't be this many rooms in here!" Souya Ikari said to Wonka-san, who responded with a little laugh.

"Oh, ye of little faith," he said, "this isn't just an ordinary up-and-down elevator. I'm proud to say that this elevator can go sideways, longways, slantways, and any other ways you could possibly think of! It can visit any single room in the whole factory, no matter where it is! You simply press the button…and _zing!_…you're off!"

"Sugoi!" Hinata murmured. Her eyes were shining with excitement as she stared down the rows and rows of buttons.

"The whole elevator is made of a thick, clear glass!" Wonka-san declared. "Walls, doors, ceiling, floor, everything is made of glass so that you can see out!"

"But there's nothing to see," said Souya Ikari.

"Choose a button!" said Wonka-san. "You two kids may press one button each. So take your pick! Hurry up! In every room, something delicious and wonderful is being made."

Quickly, Hinata began to read some of the labels alongside the buttons.

THE ROCK-CANDY MINE, 10 000 FEET DEEP, it said on one.

EXPLODING CANDY FOR YOUR ENEMIES it said on another.

INVISIBLE CANDY BARS FOR EATING IN CLASS.

FIREY MINTS, LIKE USING A KATON TECHNIQUE.

COTTON CANDY CLOTHING, SPRING FASHIONS.

SUGAR COATED KUNAI, FOR DANGEROUS CANDY EATERS.

ADMINISTRATION OFFICE.

"Come on, come on!" cried Wonka-san. "We can't wait all day!"

"I want to see something special." Souya Ikari said. "I want to see something…revolutionary! Something that'll really change the world! Like, a new invention for shinobi" he finished.

Hinata's mind snapped to attention at Souya's request. It reminded her of something from the day before.

_"Something that will change the way shinobi operate forever! If it is released, my company will be ruined!"_

Urami H'coro's cold words echoed through her mind. She suddenly remembered the strange man she had met on the snowy streets last night, and his offer of a lot of money to steal something from Wonka-san. A shiver ran down her spine. _Did Souya run into that man as well? _she thought, _Maybe he's being tempted by something as well..._

"A new shinobi invention, eh?" Wonka-san murmured. "Yeah, I think I have just the thing! Oh, you just wait! If that's something you'd like, then I _definitely _know a room that'll tickle your fancy!"

Wonka-san leaned forward and pushed a small button on the side of the elevator simply labeled TOP SECRET ROOM. Instantly, there was a tremendous whizzing noise. The doors clanged shut and the elevator leaped away as though it had been stung by a wasp. But it leaped _sideways! _All of the passengers (except Wonka-san who was holding onto a strap from the ceiling) were flung off their feet and smacked against the transparent wall of the elevator.

"Get up, get up!" Wonka-san roared with laughter. However, just as the three of them were regaining their composure, the elevator gave a mighty lurch and swerved violently around a corner, heading in a new direction.

"Gyaaaah! This ride is crazy!" Naruto said as his back slammed against the other wall of the elevator. Wonka-san offered a hand to him as he got up.

The elevator rushed on at the speed of a shuriken thrown by an expert ninja. Now it was beginning to climb. It was shooting up and up and up on a steep slanty course as if it were climbing a very steep hill. Then suddenly, as though it had come to the top of the hill, it dropped like a stone and Hinata felt her stomach rise up into her throat.

"Little girl," Wonka-san asked, "are you alright?" Hinata saw he was looking at her face, which she imagined was contorted in a grimace. She shook the face off and smiled.

"I'm g-great!" she said as bravely as she could. "It's l-like being on a carnival ride!" And through the glass walls of the elevator, as it rushed along, they caught sudden glimpses of strange and wonderful things going on in some of the other rooms:

An enormous spout with brown sticky stuff oozing out of it and onto the floor…

A great craggy mountain made entirely of fudge, with Oompa-Loompas (all roped together for safety) hacking huge hunks of it of fudge out of its sides. A few of the Oompa-Loompas waved to the elevator as it whizzed past (Hinata gave a timid wave back)…

A machine with white powder spraying out of it like a snowstorm…

A village of Oompa-Loompas, with tiny houses and streets and hundreds of little Oompa-Loompa children no more than 12 centimeters high playing in the streets. Hinata could just hear that many of them were singing to themselves. She wished she could make out the songs…

Now the elevator began flattening out again, but it seemed to be going faster than ever, and Hinata could hear the sound of the wind rushing by outside as it hurtled forward.

The next moment they came into a great open space that was completely black and dark. Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of orange and blush sparks and smoke! Hinata turned and saw fireworks erupting all over the place. Colourful explosions of light and sound brightened the whole space. Hinata saw that the fireworks were being shot out by cannons that seemed to be manned by Oompa-Loompas. She wondered what on earth such a room could be used for.

"Sugoi," Naruto gasped, "it's just like at festival time."

Souya Ikari sneered. "Why is everything in this place completely pointless!" he asked angrily.

Hinata felt her hands tremble with irritation. She looked up and saw that Wonka-san's expression seemed somewhat hurt by the boy's comment. She clenched her fist and said as clearly as she could:

"C-candy doesn't have to have a point…t-that's why it's candy…"

She saw Wonka-san smile out of the corner of her eye. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Naruto smiling at her, his hand squeezing her shoulder slightly.

"It's stupid!" Souya continued, "_Candy is a waste of time!_"

Wonka-san heard and felt these words differently than the others. Souya Ikari's voice wasn't a bothered and irritated whine of a child, but the cold and whispering voice of his father. His memory went back to his father's words…

* * *

"_No son of mine is going to become a chocolateer!" _he said coldly, his form hidden in shadow.

Willy Wonka remembered being much smaller, a child again. The memory was short months after the incident with the small bag of sweets. He remembered standing in front of his father, no longer filled with fear and apprehension, but with confidence and determination.

_"Then I'll move away" _Willy-kun cried, _"I'll go to the Wind country, or the Fire country; the candy capitals of the continent! I'll work there!"_

_"You'll do no such thing!" _his father said, his voice deathly quiet, just above a whisper. _"You're _my _tool, _MY _son! You are to be a weapon, a shinobi of this village!"_

_"I wont!" _Willy-kun shouted. _"You're no longer in charge of me! Now, _I'm _going to make my own decisions! I choose to leave this place!"_

His father didn't respond right away. Willy Wonka remembered there being a palpable silence between the two. Finally, his father began to laugh. It was a cold and menacing laugh. The laugh of a man who believes he knows everything and all of the possibilities of life.

_"Fine then," _his father grinned, stepping aside, _"but you'll never be allowed to return to here. If you leave, our family tie will be broken! You'll rue the day you left and abandoned your destiny!"_

Willy-kun looked straight ahead and marched past his father, not saying another word. He marched up the stairs and through winding tunnels, finally emerging to the surface. The bright sunshine beat warmed his pale skin; he looked out to the forest path that faced him.

He took his first steps toward his future, leaving his past behind.

Only now did he realize that he felt something missing in his heart…

* * *

"Almost there now!" Wonka-san said, breaking a moment of silence after Souya Ikari's last remark.

The surroundings had become black and empty once more. Hinata had the feeling that they were passing through nothingness. She felt slightly unnerved.

Suddenly, there was a screaming of brakes and the elevator began to slow down. Then it stopped altogether. Then, the elevator doors slid open and Wonka-san said, "Just a minute now! Listen to me! I want all of you to be extra, extra, extraordinarily careful and cautious in this next room. There is dangerous and highly stupendous stuff around in here and you must not tamper with it!"

Wonka-san's face was more grave than usual. Hinata could sense that this new room held something unlike the more whimsical things she'd seen previously in the factory. "W-what's in there?" she asked hesitantly.

"Probably something amazing…world-changing…and incredible!" Wonka-san said slowly. "But what do I know…let's take a little peek!"


	16. 16: The Top Secret Invention Room

_Author's Note: These are appearing more frequently now, aren't they? Anyway, I'd like to give credit and/or apologize to J.K. Rowling for…um, let's call it…"borrowing" one of her ideas/items/plot devices. It was simply too cool and fab not to use in this scenario. Sure I could have changed the name of it and tried to make it "original", but who am I kidding…this story isn't exactly original to begin with. Harry Potter fans, raise your eyebrows in anticipation of a ¼ degree turn crossover! Oh…and please read and review…thank you._

**16: The Top Secret Invention Room**

Soya Ikari, together with Hinata and Naruto, stepped out of the elevator into a small room with thick steel walls. Emergency lights adorned the walls, flashing in spots of orange and red. The wall in front of them held a massive, round steel door. It looked like a gigantic vault to Hinata. Wonka-san ran over to a corner of the room and returned with three black strips of cloth and said, "Put these on quick. I'm afraid you're not allowed to see me open the door. It requires a special method of unlocking that's just so unbelievably secret, no one in the world but myself knows it," he watched as the children hesitantly blindfolded themselves. "I intend to keep it that way, so please, just stay here a moment."

Hinata stood alongside Naruto in complete darkness, her eyes tightly blindfolded by the cloth. She wasn't sure what Wonka-san was about to do, but the fact that they had to be blindfolded to protect its secrecy created a large sense of importance. She felt Naruto's hand brush against hers as they stood. She wished she could muster the courage to hold it again.

Standing in darkness, the children heard Wonka-san step forward to the giant steel door. From there, they heard several noises: Several soft hollow clangs like someone tapping against the door, a loud scraping noise of metal against metal, a squeak like a mouse, the turning of clockwork; gears and cogs grinding together, an odd clapping noise Hinata recognized as, not the sound of clapping, but the sound of hand seals being performed. Finally, there was a loud and hollow cry of metal; the sound of the door opening.

"Okay dear children," Wonka-san said happily, "this is it! You may take off those blindfolds now and bask in the glory of wondrousness…ness!"

Hinata pulled the cloth off of hear head and felt her pupils change rapidly. Pouring out of the door was a dazzlingly bright and dazzlingly white light that nearly blinded them all. The screwed up their eyes and followed Wonka-san inside. Stumbling forward, Hinata could barely see a few feet in front of her because of the blinding light. She felt something tight grasp her. She squinted to her side to see that Naruto was holding her hand, trying to follow along. She'd have blushed if the light had not been so intense.

"Ah, here we go!" Wonka-san called out. There was suddenly a sound of power lowering, like an unplugged radio, echoing through the room. The bright light began to dim until it became a soft yellow. All of the children were relieved to have their normal vision back as their eyes began to adjust again. Hinata saw Wonka-san had his hand on a dimmer switch near the door.

"I'm kinda sorry kids," he said, "the invention in this room requires a very bright light in order to operate at full capacity. I do hope all of you can still see enough to see it"

"I'm seeing spots!" Naruto cried, blinking as he grasped at the air, as if to catch an unseen something.

"Oh, don't worry, that'll pass in a moment." Wonka-san said reassuringly. He marched forward and motioned for the children to look about the room.

Hinata saw that the room was quite large. The walls seemed to have containers of some sort stacked along them. Boxes, barrels, hundreds of containers lined the walls, all of them different colours. Hinata couldn't tell what they were made out of, but it looked as if most of them were either wooden or perhaps plastic; some of them reflecting the light in the room a bit. She looked up to see many large electric lights coming out from the ceiling; the source of the dazzling light from before.

"Sugoi…" Naruto gasped. Hinata turned to face the center of the room, which housed an enormous machine. It reminded Hinata slightly of the Great Gum Machine they had seen in the Inventing Room earlier, except this new object was far more ornate. It was made of a polished silver metal and flowed about as if it was liquid, forming cascading shapes. The center of it was a huge glass sphere with something small right in the center of it. A tiny tube dropped down from the top of it towards the small, central object.

Wonka-san beamed proudly at this new machine they saw. Hinata experienced a queer sort of sense of danger. There was something dangerous about this room. The locked steel door, the blinding light, and she noticed that there were no Oompa-Loompas in this room either. No chattering or song singing. Even the large machine, though it was beautiful, emitted an odd feeling of apprehension.

"This is where I'm concocting my most ingenious and awe inspiring invention to date!" Wonka-san cried, hopping up and down with excitement.

"What is it!" Souya Ikari asked impatiently.

"Good heavens, child, don't interrupt me!" said Wonka-san. "Like you asked for, this invention will revolutionize the world! Or, at least, I hope it does…it'll certainly make things more interesting!" he giggled.

Hinata watched as he stepped up to the machine and moved his hand across the glass sphere. He turned to face the children. "Now, a while ago, I began thinking that I've been extremely lucky in almost all of my endeavors. Sure, people all over the world love my candy because it's simply the best out there," he said extravagantly, waving his arms, "but _luck_ has always been a key factor. I'm an exceptionally lucky person.

"But," he continued, "not everyone is as lucky as me. There must be thousands of people who have the crummiest luck in the world! So I thought to myself, 'Hey! Why can't I invent something that'll help these unfortunate people turn their crummy luck around?' and now, I think I have!"

Wonka-san pointed towards the small object in the middle of the sphere. "_This,_" he said excitedly, "is Felix Felicis!"

Naruto gave the man a confused look. "Felix _who?_" he asked.

"Felix _Felicis!_" Wonka-san corrected him.

"How can this Felix person fit in such a tiny ball?" Naruto asked again. "He must be pretty tiny!"

Wonka-san's face fell a tad, "You know, you're acting really blonde at the moment; blonde and short. Felix Felicis is the name of my _invention! _It's collecting in a vial in that sphere!"

"Oh…" Naruto said, finally catching on.

"But, what _is _Felix Felicis?" Hinata asked.

"It's luck," Wonka-san said proudly, "It's pure, concentrated _luck!_ It that very vial in there is a liquid made of pure luckiness! I named it after a man I once knew who had the greatest luck in the world. Ol' Felix would win about a dozen lotteries and contests every week without even trying! He was a small, shrimpy little man, but was incredible at sports and games! He'd win every time! I thought he'd be the perfect person to name my new invention after!"

"P-pure luck!" Naruto gasped, "T-that's incredible!"

"It's preposterous!" Souya Ikari said, "How can you bottle something like luck?"

"Well," Wonka-san began, "It's certainly not easy. There boxes around you are filled with the most lucky things in the world: four leaf clovers, rabbit's feet, horseshoes, those little paper fortunes you can get with "Best Luck" on them, red balloons, shooting stars, every lucky thing I could track down.

"I invented this machine to take all of those things, grind them up, mash them together, and compress them into a liquid. Pure, concentrated luck! It'll be fantastic!" he then opened a small transparent door in the sphere that Hinata would not have noticed unless he opened it. He reached into the sphere and extracted the little vial. He held it up for the children to see. The Felix Felicis was transparent, like water. "This vial here has taken almost six months to fill. Luck isn't an easy thing to extract out of things."

"Incredible!" Hinata cried out.

"I know!" Wonka-san replied. "It's pretty potent stuff as well. I've tested it on a few of my Oompa-Loompas. I estimate that about a drop of this stuff will grant a person above average luck for an entire day. Too much of it can have nasty side effects. Of the Oompa-Loompas I tested it on, only one of them was successfully lucky. The others, haven been given a higher dosage, were _so_ lucky that it started to affect the people around them, making them unlucky. It's…kinda complicated" Wonka-san admitted as he fumbled to explain how the Felix worked.

"What are you going to use it with?" Naruto asked.

"I'd glad you asked that," Wonka-san replied. "I'm going to start selling 'Wonka's Creamy Chocolate Lucky Bars', each candy bar will have a drop of Felix in them, giving the eater a days worth of good luck! Just imagine! Kids will eat a Wonka Lucky bar before a big test in school or a sporting event, and they'll find themselves doing better and being luckier than before! I imagine it'll be especially popular with the youths of today. Who knows how many hopeless romantics it might help to become less hopeless!"

"Could it be used for other things?" Souya Ikari asked.

"Like what?" Wonka-san asked.

"Like shinobi tools! Soldier Pills for example!" he said impatiently.

"Now why would I want to do that?" Wonka-san asked. "Those don't taste any good. Do you know what soldier pills are _made _of? Fish oils and latex paint residues and all sorts of nasty stuff!" Wonka-san made a disgusted face, sticking his tongue out.

It became apparent to Hinata that Souya Ikari was becoming quite irritated. She could see his brow furrowing under his forehead protector. His mouth, a grim line just visible through the mask he was wearing. She saw his fists clench and his eyes flash.

"Don't you realize what you've _done!_" he yelled at Wonka-san, who only stared blankly back at the boy as he held onto the vial of Felix tightly. "You've invented the perfect tool for soldiers! It could be used to win a war, and _you _want to use it on chocolate for _children!_"

Wonka-san looked as if he was about to say something, but Souya Ikari cut him off before he could speak. "People think you're a genius, but you're an _idiot! _Throwing away something as valuable as that on kids! You're a total fool…" he yelled, "…but _I'm_ not."

Suddenly Souya Ikari thrust his arms outward to his sides, the next moment Hinata saw that he had a kunai knife in each hand, one of them pointed at Wonka-san. "Give me the vial, old man!" the boy said coldly as thrust the kunai in Wonka-san's direction. "Something this precious shouldn't be wasted on stupid children like the others!"

"Hmmm," Wonka-san said as he rubbed his chin, "Did I list a rule on the tickets that forbids the having of bladed weapons? I really can't remember…now it seems like it would have been a good idea." He gripped the vial tightly in his rubber-gloved hand.

"Hand it over or I'll kill you!" Souya Ikari shouted, his eyes were like two cold stones, staring out at the chocolateer.

Hinata stood aghast at to what was happening. She brought her hands to her lips and felt her knees tremble. She felt powerless to do anything, she just couldn't get over the present situation. Her eyes darted to the side to see that Naruto was no longer beside her.

"You just went and did the dumbest thing ever, kid." Naruto said angrily. Hinata turned to see that he was right behind Souya with a kunai at the back of the boy's head. Hinata hadn't even seen him move!

Time seemed to move at a snail's pace. The two shinobi stood close to each other, one with a blade to his head. Hinata felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down her back. _I should be doing something! _She thought.

"Now, now," Wonka-san said, looking a bit worried, "you're both guests in my factory, and I must tell you that I'm just a smidgen of a tad uncomfortable with you two drawing weapons and such. Now, c'mon, violence is not the answer…"

"Feh," Hinata heard Souya Ikari say as he took a step backward, right into Naruto's kunai! Hinata gasped as she heard the awful sound of the blade piercing the back of his skull. Naruto's hand shook and he almost dropped his knife. Then, without warning, the boy exploded into a cloud of smoke! It dissipated to reveal a plastic barrel in place of Souya.

"Kawarimi no jutsu, eh?" Naruto said as he turned around, searching the area for where Souya had disappeared. "Hinata, Wonka-san! Be on your guard! He could be anywhere!"

Hinata snapped to attention. She knew that Naruto was right. Souya Ikari had become a threat to Wonka-san as well as the two of them. She had to do all she could to help out. She ran in front of Wonka-san and assumed a defensive stance. "D-daijoubu Wonka-san, we'll protect you!" she said to him. Wonka-san simply stared blankly at her as she ran in front of him.

"Hinata," Naruto called, "I can't find him!"

"L-leave it to me…" Hinata said. She brought her hands together in a seal and focused the chakra within her. She felt blood begin to pump through her temples, the veins rising from under the skin. The blood vessels within her eyes grew as she felt her vision change. "Byakugan!" she yelled.

Suddenly her surroundings changed, becoming a translucent field of bluish green. She could clearly see the chakra flowing through Naruto, but focused her vision beyond him, encompassing all three hundred and sixty degrees around her in search of Souya Ikari.

_Boxes…boxes…far right corner…highest box…there!_ She saw him, his chakra glowing brilliantly as it coursed through his body. "Naruto-kun! Two O'clock high!" she shouted as she pointed across the room. She watched as Naruto flung several shurikens in that general direction.

There was a flash of movement. She watched as Souya dashed away and stopped as he stood in plain view of all three of them. His mask had been pulled down, revealing his face, which was contorted in a nasty smile.

"Useless…" he said to them all. "All of you are as H'coro-sama predicted…weak!" he shouted, his evil grin growing. He looked down to stare at Hinata alone. "Hyuuga, _He_ expected better of you. You could have gained so much if you would have only realized that formula's potential! You could have been rich!"

Naruto turned to face Hinata. "W-what is he talking about! Who's this H'coro guy!"

Hinata looked up at Souya. _So she'd guessed right. He _does _know Urami H'coro! _She thought. She raised her hands up in an attacking pose, bent over with one arm forward and one arm back; the signature pose of the Hyuuga clan.

"I'd _never _betray Wonka-san!" she screamed, "Not for all the money in the world!"

Souya Ikari's grin faltered a bit. "No matter," he scowled, "I'll be done with you three soon enough!"

And then he struck…


	17. 17: Hinata's Strength

Author's Note: Ooh…ninja action! Self confrontation! A chance for Romance! Now we're talking! Let's see what happens now! Grabs popcorn

**17: Hinata's Strength**

…and then he struck!

Souya Ikari formed a series of hand seals in rapid succession, ending in the snake seal (hebis). Hinata saw the air flicker around his arms, as if he was channeling something. She tried to focus the Byakugan to make it out, but she was running out of chakra. Her eyes returned to normal. She felt her vision fade into what she could only see in front of her.

Souya Ikari's arms began to glow an eerie black, as if a dark cloud of smoke was encircling them. The black cloud writhed and twisted around him until it coated his entire arm, shining like a piece of armor.

"Ninpo: Kagekuro no Youma!" he shouted (Black Demon Shadow). He raised his arm into the air and poised to attack.

"Sh'kuso!" Naruto swore. He ran to the opposite wall, forming shadow a doppelganger as he did. When the two reached the opposite wall, Naruto yelled to Hinata, "Oi, get yourself and Wonka-san out of the way! Leave this creep to _me!_" with that, he opened his palm to the Bunshin.

"B-but, N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata started, but the boy cut her off.

"There's nothing you can _do! _This creep is stronger than you! I'll handle him!" Naruto shouted at her, bright blue chakra swirling about his palm.

Hinata looked at Wonka-san and gave him a worried look, which Wonka-san returned. She grabbed his hand and quickly led him to a corner in the room. "W-Wonka-s-san, y-you'll be safe here." she said. From their safe point, the two of them watched the two shinobi prepare their attacks: Souya's arm glinted in the soft light of the room, shining like steel. Naruto was focusing a swirling ball of chakra into his palm; the Bunshin was focusing it with its free hands.

"Is…there nothing you can do?" Wonka-san asked her, his hand on her shoulder. Hinata looked round to see his face, meeting his eyes with hers. She swallowed.

"N-Naruto-kun s-said he's stronger than me…I'm not a v-very s-strong s-s-shinobi." She managed. "M-my duty is t-to protect you."

"I see," Wonka-san smiled, "well, you're doing a very good job of it, because I'm quite sure that neither of us are dead and that I still have the Felix safe and sound." He showed her the vial of clear liquid.

"But y'know," he continued softly, "I've always believed that a person isn't strong unless they show that they aren't afraid. That they show others their strength…"

Hinata heard these words and felt conflicted.

"But…I-I'm…I'm not a…" she whimpered, feeling less confident.

"You're probably right…I guess you aren't…" Wonka-san said sadly, turning away from Hinata.

Hinata couldn't quite make sense of what she was thinking; all of her thoughts were all jumbled all over the place:

_I'm not strong enough…I couldn't face him, _she thought.

_I'm little, and weak…even Naruto says I should just stay and guard Wonka-san._

_B-but…am I?_

_Every time I fell, every time I faltered, every time I failed…_

_Father…always discouraged me…_

_I'll never be good enough…_

_I…I'm afraid._

Hinata watched as the two combatants readied themselves, springing forward from the walls. Souya lunged forward with his black arm outstretched, poised to strike as he sailed through the air. Naruto's ball of chakra was complete. The Bunshin used its last ounce of strength to swing Naruto forward, giving him extra momentum as he flew forward, shouting "Rasengan!"

_"A person isn't strong unless they show that they aren't afraid."_

At that moment, Wonka-san's words echoed through her mind. She remembered all of the times when she'd seen Naruto, how he inspired her. She remembered Kurenai-sensei, teaching her important things.

They're such strong people…she thought. 

_So fearless…they're not afraid to show their strength._

_I can't be afraid anymore._

_I can't…I _won't!

Hinata watched as Naruto and Souya hurtled through the air at each other, they looked as if they were moving in slow motion. They were drawing closer and closer to each other, they were so close to the giant central machine that if they were even centimeters off, they'd hit it.

By now, they'd descended almost to the ground. They were about to collide…

Hinata ran forward.

…

* * *

…

It was as if time had stood still.

Naruto was right in front of Souya Ikari. He could see the smiling expression on his face. Naruto tried to move, but found that he couldn't. His arm thrust forward, the Rasengan gone, dissipated. He grimaced and tried to move again. His arm felt heavy and dead, as if there was an enormous blockage along his wrist. He couldn't feel anything past his wrist.

Souya Ikari laughed in his face…then, suddenly, his face contorted with pain. He coughed up a bit of blood. He tried to come at Naruto, but his movements seemed rigid and limited.

Then, a face rose between them. Naruto recognized the vacant and cold white eyes, matched with veiny temples. He tried to speak, "Gck…" he spat, "H-Hinata, w-what're you, gck…doing!"

Hinata turned to him, her face no longer shy, but intensely grave. "Naruto-kun," she spoke softly and clearly, "gomen-ne, I've cut off the flow of chakra to your right hand, ending your technique"

Naruto managed to look down. He saw Hinata standing between the two of them, two of her fingers jabbed into his outstretched arm. Naruto suddenly remembered this feeling. He had felt it earlier that year when he fought Hinata's cousin, Hyuuga Neji. The both employed a type of taijutsu known as the "gentle fist", which attacked chakra holes in the body, blocking and manipulating the flow of internal energy.

"And _you,_" she turned her head to face Souya Ikari, "I've disrupted the chakra flow to your heart, which in turn, will cut off the flow of chakra to your arms and legs."

Naruto looked past her to see her other hand extended to Souya's chest, it was shaped like a claw, clutching deep into his chest. She pushed forward with her palm, causing Souya Ikari to spasm in pain.

"H-Hinata-chan…" Naruto coughed, "w-why!"

Hinata's scary face slowly softened, she spoke to both of them in a clear and calm, neutral voice.

"It's like Wonka-san said. We're his guests here," she said "there's no reason for any of us to fight. We should all just calm down and think about this rationally."

"Gcrk…s-stupid b-bit-" Souya began, but Hinata grabbed him tighter, silencing him.

"H-Hinata! That kid tried to kill Wonka-san! He's insane!" Naruto yelled at her. Hinata remained calm.

"Even so, if you two just calm down, and promise to hear me out, I'll let you go. Promise?" she asked the two of them.

Naruto hesitantly nodded, as did Souya. She pulled her hands away from them both, causing them to slump to the ground. Naruto got to his feet almost immediately. Souya did the same. The two of them looked poised to fight, but Hinata shot them both a glance, and they eased up.

Hinata turn to Souya and gave a soft smile, "I met the same person that you're trying to steal the Felix for," she said. Naruto's eyes widened. "He offered me ten million ryou to steal the secret formula for him…and like you said, I've declined." She looked deep into the boy's eyes. "Urami H'coro, did he offer you something as well? Was it money? Or something else? Is he blackmailing you? If it's anything like that, we could help you. You don't have to do anything rash like steal something of Wonka-san's. Let us help you, ne?"

Souya Ikari spat onto the ground and grinned at Hinata.

"You really are naïve," he spat, "I'm doing this because I serve him. Because something as this shouldn't be wasted on delusional and juvenile things like candy, or making little children happy, or some bullshit like that! Peace is useless! This could become a tool for war! And no weakling like _you_ can stop us!"

Hinata grabbed him by his shirt and brought him very close to her. She looked deep into his eyes.

"Then you're just a rotten person! H-hidoi!" she yelled. Her eyes focused and pumped with blood as she activated the Byakugan. She leaned in quite close to the boy and said something furiously in his ear.

"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho! (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms)"

She pushed Souya Ikari forward and jabbed him in the chest with her palms. Then she pushed him forward even more, landing even more blows on the boy, pushing him past the enormous machine that produced the Felix Felicis. "Eight!" she cried as she continued to jab him, "Sixteen!" landing even more hits, which sent Souya stumbling backwards, "Thirty-two!" her voice rang out, her fists a flurry of movement, "Sixty-four! Hai!" she cried, landing approximately that number of carefully and precisely aimed blows to Souya's body. The final strike sent him flying across the room towards the large stack of barrels and crates against one of the walls.

Souya Ikari fell _into _a barrel, in fact. He landed with a very satisfying _sploosh! _Thick purple liquid issued forth from the barrel as Souya was completely submerged in the barrel. A cloud of smoke began to rise from the barrel along with a hissing and bubbling noise.

"Oh my…" Wonka-san said, coming out of his corner and striding up to the barrel where Souya landed. He hesitantly began to investigate.

Hinata, on the other hand, fell to the ground, exhausted. Her eyes drooped and she felt incredibly tired. Naruto walked up to her. Hinata looked up to face Naruto, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh! N-Naruto-kun!" she sobbed, "I'm s-s-so sorry! I haven't h-hurt you, have I? I didn't w-want to, I j-j-just felt I had to do s-something! Oh, p-please forgive me! I'm so sorry, your p-poor arm, I-I'll mend it r-right away, I promise! Please, I'm s-s-sorry…"

Naruto knelt down beside Hinata, he put his hand on her shoulder. His eyes were wide with panic. "H-Hinata-chan! Oh, don't cry! I-I'll be fine! I heal really fast anyway, and you didn't hurt me that much, please don't cry. I'm perfectly fine, really I am!" he said quickly, seeing the horrified and sad look on Hinata's face.

He leaned over and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"Daijoubu, Hinata-chan," he said softly, "I'll be fine…besides…you were right." Hinata looked up at him, a tear leaking out of her eye. He smiled warmly at her, the big grin that she admired so much, "You were right…I think what you did just now was very brave. You came between the two of us and risked yourself because you wanted to try and give peace a chance. T-that's really something admirable."

Hinata couldn't help but blush as she felt comfort in Naruto's soft and warm hug. His words made her turn an even brighter shade of scarlet. She was glad Naruto couldn't quite see her face. "N-Naruto-kun…arigato." She said at last.

"Aww, isn't that just darling…" a voice said behind them.

Hinata broke away from Naruto to see Wonka-san standing over them. He was grinning. "Well, that whole little bit of debacle certainly livened up the day. Are you two alright?" he asked. Both Naruto and Hinata nodded. "Well good. I must say that I'm ever so happy and proud that you two would go out of your way to protect me and my invention," he skipped over the large glass sphere and placed the Felix Felicis back it its holder.

"Now then, I do think we should check on our other ticket winner," he said with a mischievous face, "I'm quite unsure of what he landed in. We'd better go fetch him right away."

The party then walked slowly over to the barrel that Souya Ikari had landed in, purple goop oozing over the top. The barrel shook a bit, teetering on the crates it was on. "He's definitely _in _there…" Naruto said slowly.

The barrel shook again, this time, tipping over in front of them. Purple ooze splashed out a bit as it fell forward. Wonka-san nudged the two children back so that they didn't get near it. "Who knows what it is…it could be dangerous!" he said worriedly.

"Ano…_you're _the one who brought it in," Naruto said, "and you don't know what it _is?_"

"Hey," Wonka-san said hurt, "there are limits to my genius. I can't be expected to remember everything." He motioned for the two children to lean over to look in the barrel.

Something began to crawl out.

"Oh my goodness…" Hinata gasped.

"That's impossible!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's…it's…" Wonka-san began.

Slowly, a small thing crawled out of the barrel. It was a small and fuzzy animal, its grey and brown fur covered in purple goop. It got out; looking quite flustered, and stared at them all with small, beady black eyes.

"…It's a raccoon!" Wonka-san said, a smile widening on his face.

Hinata couldn't believe what she saw. "B-but, what happened to Souya-kun!" She asked. Naruto simply rubbed his eyes in disbelief, making sure he was seeing all of this correctly.

"Who'da thunk it?" Wonka-san said excitedly. "Now I remember…I seem to recall having a few vats of something that could turn things into raccoons…I suppose that's what this must be!" he watched as the little animal sniffed them all and shook the purple ooze off of its fur. It gave a small cry of irritation.

"He's a tanuki?" Naruto asked.

"Um, no," Wonka-san said, "he's a raccoon, like I said."

"I think he looks like a tanuki. Or maybe a badger." Naruto insisted.

"Sometimes a-a tanuki is just a tanuki…" Hinata said quietly, remembering the old Konoha proverb.

"S-So that kid got turned into _this?_" Naruto still couldn't believe it. He watched the little animal scurry about, cleaning its bushy tail. "That's…" Naruto couldn't help but smile. His smile quickly escalated into a chuckle, which became a laugh. Hinata chuckled as well.

Wonka-san scooped up the animal with his gloved hands, "Ooh, there we go," he cooed as he held the animal in his arms, "You're just a cute wittle thing, aren't you?" the raccoon took a little swipe at him. Wonka-san lowered him a bit and made a bizarre clicking noise with his tongue. Suddenly, an Oompa-Loompa appeared right by his leg in an instant. Wonka-san bent over and spoke to the little man.

"I want you to take this animal…er, Souya-kun…and bring him along to the entrance with the other children. You might want to contact his mother…she'll be…surprised." He told the Oompa-Loompa, handing the raccoon to him. The Oompa-Loompa pulled a small leash out of his clothes and harnessed the animal, leading him out of the room.

"Ah well," Wonka-san sighed, "It's too bad none of the Oompa-Loompas worked in this room," he told the children, "I imagine they would have loved to sing a song about _this. _It would certainly have made for an interesting one."


	18. 18: Only Hinata Left

**18: Only Hinata Left**

"Which room shall it be next?" said Wonka-san as he turned away and darted towards the elevator. "Come on! Let's get a move on! Oh, and how many children are there left now?"

Hinata looked at Naruto, and Naruto looked back at Hinata.

"But Wonka-san," Naruto called after him, "there's…there's only Hinata left now."

Wonka-san swung round and stared at Hinata.

There was a silence. Hinata stood there holding tight onto Naruto's hand.

"Y-you mean you're the only one left?" Wonka-san said, his face puzzled.

"Why yes," whispered Hinata. "Yes."

"Where happened to all the others?" Wonka-san asked them quietly. Hinata turned to Naruto, unsure of how to respond. She simply looked back at Wonka-san and waited.

Wonka-san suddenly exploded with excitement. "Oh my _dear girl,_" he cried out, "_That means you've won!_" He rushed towards her and started shaking Hinata's hand so furiously Hinata felt it might come off. "Oh, I do congratulate you!" he cried. "I really do! I'm absolutely delighted! It couldn't be better! Wow absolutely wonderful this is! I hand a hunch, you know, right from the beginning, that it was going to be you! Well _done, _Hinata, well _done!_ Now the fun is really going to start! But we mustn't dilly and we mustn't dally! There's even less time to lose now than there was before! We have an enormous amount of things to do before the day is through!"

Wonka-san turned round and stepped towards the elevator. "But luckily for us we have the Great Glass Elevator to help speed thing alo-"

His sentence was ended by a terrible SMACK, as he walked right into the glass doors of the elevator, clearly not seeing them and their transparentness. He regained his composure and pushed the wall button to open the doors. "S-speed things along." He finished as he stepped in. Hinata and Naruto followed him inside.

Hinata felt that something crazy was about to happen now. But she wasn't frightened. She wasn't even nervous. She was just terrifically excited. And so was Naruto. The young Genin's face was shining with excitement as he watched every move that Wonka-san made. He was reaching up for a button high up on the glass ceiling of the elevator. Naruto and Hinata both craned their necks to read what it said on the little label beside the button.

It read…_UP AND OUT._

"_Up _and _Out,_" asked Naruto, "What sort of room is that?"

Wonka-san pushed the button.

The glass doors closed.

"Hold on." Wonka-san said softly, smiling at both of them.

Then _WHAM! _The elevator shot straight up like a rocket! Hinata and Naruto braced themselves as the elevator shot upward, Wonka-san was holding onto a strap from the ceiling, and up they went, up, up, up, straight up this time, without any twisting or turnings, and Hinata could hear the whistling of air outside as the elevator went up faster and faster.

"Faster!" cried Wonka-san, banging the wall of the elevator with his hand. "We'll never break through going at this speed!"

"Break through what?" shouted Naruto. "What do we have to break through?"

"Ah-ha!" laughed Wonka-san, "you wait and see. I've been waiting, like, forever to press this button! Here we go, _up and out!_"

"But you don't mean…" shouted Naruto, "you don't _really _mean that this elevator…"

"Yeah, I do!" Wonka-san chuckled. He seemed to be overcome with a severe case of the giggles.

"But it's made of _glass!_" Naruto protested. "It'll smash into a thousand pieces!"

Wonka-san only laughed, a large smile on his face.

The elevator rushed on, going up and up and up, faster and faster and faster…

Then suddenly, _CRASH! _…and the most tremendous noise of splintering wood and broken masonry came from above their heads. The elevator had shot right up through the roof of the factory and was now rising through the air like a rocket, and the sunshine was pouring in through the glass roof. In five seconds they were thousands of feet up in the sky.

"We're gonna die!" Naruto yelled in a panic.

"Well that wouldn't be good, now would it?" Wonka-san said calmly, and he pressed another button. The elevator stopped. It stopped and hung in mid-air, hovering like a bumblebee, hovering over the factory and over the Konohagakure village itself, which lay spread out below them like a photograph. Looking down through the glass floor on which she was standing, Hinata could see the far away houses and the streets and the snow that lay thickly over everything.

It was an eerie and frightening feeling to be standing on clear glass up in the sky. It made Hinata and Naruto feel as if they weren't standing on anything at all.

"How does this crazy thing stay up!" Naruto cried.

"Huh?" Wonka-san asked. "How does it stay up? That's a very good question…" he stopped there and left Naruto hanging for a few seconds, before speaking up again. "Oh look," he cried, "there go the other children! They're returning home!"

* * *

"We must go down and take a look at our little friends before we do anything else," said Wonka-san. He pressed a different button, and the elevator dropped lower, and soon it was hovering just above the entrance gates to the factory.

Looking down now, Hinata could see the children and their parents standing in a little group just inside the gates. "I can only see three," she said. "What happened to Souya?"

"I expect that he's not in very good traveling condition and that his mother will have to come 'round to pick him up." Wonka-san said. "Do you see the trucks?" he pointed to a line of gigantic covered vans parked in a line nearby.

"Hai," Hinata said, "What are _they _for?"

"Don't you remember what it said on the golden tickets? Every child goes home with a lifetime's supply of sweets. There's one truckload of candy for each of them, loaded to the brim. Ah-ha," Wonka-san went on, "there goes our friend Yoriko Glupu! D'you see her? She's getting into the first truck with her mother!"

"You mean she's _really _alright?" asked Hinata, astonished. "Even after going up that awful pipe?"

"She's very much all right," said Wonka-san.

"She's changed!" said Naruto, peering down through the glass wall of the elevator. "She used to be fat! Now she's thin as a straw!"

"Of course she's changed," said Wonka-san, laughing. "She got squeezed in the pipe. Don't you remember? I expect she'll regain all that weight within a week with that truckload of chocolate. And look! There goes Tomoe Bulnose-chan, the great gum chewer! It seems as though they managed to de-juice her after all. I'm so glad, I was quite worried that she would have exploded before they could help her."

"D-demo, she's all purple!" Naruto cried.

"Ah well," Wonka-san said, "there's nothing we can do about that."

"Ohh!" cried Hinata. "Look at poor Masaru Kawasaki and his father! They're all _covered _in garbage!"

"Well…at least they aren't incinerated…" Naruto said quietly.

"Alright," Wonka-san said importantly, "It's time we left these three silly children. I have something very important to talk to you about, my dear Hinata." Wonka-san pressed another button, and the elevator swung upwards into the sky.


	19. 19: Hinata's Chocolate Factory

**19: Hinata's Chocolate Factory**

The great glass elevator was now hovering high over Konoha village. Inside the elevator stood Wonka-san, Naruto, and Hinata.

"How I love my chocolate factory," said Wonka-san, gazing down at the enormous factory. Then he paused, and he turned around and looked at Hinata with a most serious expression on his face. "Do _you _love it, too, Hinata?" he asked.

Hinata smiled warmly and her eyes lit up. "Oh, yes," she cried, "I-I think it's the most wonderful place in the whole world!"

"I am very pleased to hear you say that," said Wonka-san, looking more serious than ever. He went on staring at Hinata. "Yes," he said, "I am very pleased indeed to hear you say that. And now I shall tell you why." Wonka-san cocked his head to one side and all at once the tiny twinkling wrinkles of a smile appeared around the corners of his eyes, and he said, "You see, my dear child, you've won something today. Not just _any _something mind you, the most _something _something that ever…somethinged!"

He took a deep breath, "I've decided to give you my entire factory!"

Hinata stared at Wonka-san, and Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. "Y-you must be joking." Hinata gave a bit of a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm not joking, I'm deadly serious." Wonka-san said.

"B-but…but…why do you want to give your factory to Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Well," Wonka-san said, "A short while ago, I had a revelation. I realized one day that I'm actually an old man. I'm much older than I look. I can't go on forever. I have no children of my own. So who is going to run the factory when I'm gone? _Someone's _got to keep it going, if only for the sake of my beloved Oompa-Loompas. Mind you, there are thousands of clever men who would give anything for the chance to come and take over for me, but I don't _want _that sort of person at all. A grownup won't listen to me; he won't learn. He will try to do things his own way and not mine. So I have to have a child. I want a good, sensible, loving child, one whom I can tell my most precious candy-making secrets…while I'm still alive."

"So _that's _why you sent out the golden tickets!" cried Naruto.

"Exactly!" said Wonka-san. "I decided to invite five children to the factory, and the one that was the least rotten at the end of the day would be the winner…that's you, Hinata." He finished, smiling at the girl.

"So," he started again, looking warmly at Hinata, "are you ready to throw everything away and come with me and run the factory?" he said.

Hinata stared back at him. Her eyes had lost their excitement. They were now filled with the look of hesitation and sadness. "I-I'm sorry, Wonka-san…but I c-can't…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry, perhaps I didn't hear you right, what did you say?" he asked.

"I…I can't come with you…I can't run your factory." She said more clearly this time.

Wonka-san's delighted expression began to change. His eyebrows drooped and his smile fell slack. His lip quivered ever so slightly, as if he was trying to work out what to say next.

"A-are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, w-why won't you?"

"I can't…" Hinata said sadly. "M-my father expects me to become a s-shinobi _worthy _of the Hyuuga clan. I-I can't just drop everything…I have to carry out that wish. I…I have to work hard and become a good ninja."

Naruto, who apparently couldn't take anymore of this, spoke up, "H-Hinata-chan! What're you _saying! _You're going to give up something this wonderful so you can impress your father who couldn't care less about you!"

Hinata looked towards the ground, not answering.

"Hinata," Wonka-san said, he brought his hands upon the girl's shoulders, "Is that what you _really _want? Or do you just want to impress your father?"

Hinata stuttered slightly. "I…p-please don't misunderstand me…I'd _love _to take the factory…b-but I have to obey my father…" she trailed off, "…I want him to be satisfied with me…I just want to be good enough."

"Oh Hinata, you silly, silly girl." Wonka-san said. "I know how you feel. I've been through everything you're feeling right now. I had a father who was never satisfied with what I could do…he never truly accepted me for who I was…but I've gotten over that. I realized that as long as _I_ thought I was a good person, a good _shinobi, _then I was."

Hinata looked up into Wonka-san's caring eyes, tears beginning to well up in hers.

"I think," he began, "that you've done many brave and noble things today. Not only have you proved that you're the most pure of heart and mind out of all of the other children, but you stopped two people from killing each other in order to bring them peace." Wonka-san chuckled. "_I _distinctly remember doing something of the like a long time ago…bringing people together in the name of peace, stopping conflict. That's a sign of _true _greatness."

Hinata remembered Naruto telling her the story at the ramen stand. She looked across to him. He was smiling at her. It was that great big grin she had always admired.

"He's right," Naruto said to her, "_I _think you're a great ninja, and an even _better _person. I just wish you could see yourself the way _I _do…"

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. _Naruto… _she thought, _is praising _me? _He thinks I'm great? N-No way…_

Hinata couldn't hold herself back as she began to blush furiously.

"Hinata, what really matters is what _you _want," Wonka-san said, "Not what your _father _wants. Do _you _think you're a good shinobi? Do you _really _want to spend your life trying to impress him?"

Hinata struggled to answer. She felt so conflicted and confused. Her brow furrowed and she squinted her eyes.

"Um, just wondering…" Wonka-san interrupted, "…If _I _went to talk to your father with you, and convinced him that you're truly strong, would you change your mind?"

Hinata's eyes widened. "Y-you'd do that for _me?_" she gasped.

"Sure," he smiled, "why not? After all, you are my number one choice for the job. I'd like to meet your family as well. I'm sure they're all such _delightful _people!"

Hinata didn't think to correct Wonka-san. She nodded to him and watched him push a few more buttons. Soon, the great glass elevator was descending towards Konoha, right outside of Hiashi Hyuuga's mansion.


	20. 20: Their Confronted Fathers

**20: Their Confronted Fathers**

Hinata felt her stomach rise in her chest as the great glass elevator eased itself down in front of her father's home. The elevator kicked up a bit of snow and sleet as it landed, obscuring their view of the Hyuuga mansion. "Well, here we are!" Wonka-san said as he pushed a button, causing the doors of the elevator to open.

"W-Wonka-san…" Hinata said nervously. She wasn't sure about facing her father. Wonka-san gave her an encouraging look.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'm right her to help you along." He said.

The three of them walked out of the elevator and onto the snow-covered ground outside the mansion. Wonka-san put out an arm to Naruto, motioning for him to stop. "Little boy, would you be a dear and use your blonde shortness to watch over the elevator?" he said.

"B-but…" Naruto protested, "I wanna help you convince Hinata's father!"

"Ah, that won't be necessary. I'm sure we'll be perfectly capable of handling ourselves. Besides, Hinata should be able to show her _own _strength now." Wonka-san said, clapping Naruto on the shoulder. He nodded in agreement and waited by the great glass elevator as Hinata and Wonka-san walked ahead.

The two continued to walk up to the front entrance of the mansion when Wonka-san spoke up, "Oh, I see we're being expected…" he pointed ahead of them.

Hinata looked forward to see what Wonka-san was talking about, and nearly froze in her tracks. There was a long haired boy with white eyes standing by the steps of the front door, his arms folded and his white eyes glaring at them. Hinata shivered, not do to the cold, but of what the presence of this person might be.

"Do you know that boy?" Wonka-san asked under his breath.

"H-he's…" Hinata stuttered, "H-Hyuuga Neji, m-my c-cousin."

"Hmmm…I see…" Wonka-san said as they approached him. The boy met their eyes as they walked up to him.

"Hinata-sama," he addressed Hinata curtly, "why are you here? Who is this person with you?" his voice was a monotone, but held an underlying coldness.

"N-Neji-kun," Hinata shivered. "We're…_I'm _h-here to s-speak with my father."

Neji scowled. "Hiashi-sama said that you weren't to return unless you'd proven yourself to be stronger. You'll have to prove it to me." He raised his hand up and gestured for her to fight him.

Hinata trembled. She remembered the last time they had fought. It was during the Chuunin exam. Neji had almost killed her. She still had nightmares about it once in a while. While she feared her cousin, she knew what she had to do. She raised her arms and formed a similar stance.

Wonka-san, however, had stepped between them.

"Boy oh boy," he said jovially to Neji, who looked confused. "You sure look angry! A child you age shouldn't frown so much. It causes wrinkles, you know. I bet you'll lose at least fifteen _years _off of your life if you kept on frowning like that all the time. Geez, lighten up. It's snowing out, the sun is shining, you should be out enjoying yourself instead of standing here being all grumpy!

"Here," he said as he took something out of his jacket pocket, "have some of this, it'll do you good. You look like you haven't had any fun in _years!_"

Just then, he took what was in his hand and stuck it in Neji's mouth. Neji's eyes bulged with shock as Wonka-san pushed the thing into his mouth. "Now start chewing, it'll taste phenomenal!" he said.

And, as if on command, Neji began to chew. The dark look on his face lifted and he seemed tranquil.

"C'mon," Wonka-san said as he took Hinata's hand. "let's leave your cousin to his standing. We've got to speak with your father!"

And with that, the two of them entered the mansion.

* * *

Hinata walked into her father's sitting room, bowing as she did. Right across from her was her father, Hiashi Hyuuga. He was dressed in an elegant white robe, his long hair tied back almost exactly as Neji had had his. Her father's eyes were his most striking feature however, they were milky white, like her own, but her father's eyes were piercing and hard as steel. She felt that his gaze would be able to turn you to stone if you looked at him for too long.

Her father, sitting on a cushion on the ground, was lighting some incense on a table in front of him. The wall behind him carried a few candles for light. The coldness of the elements was quite apparent in this room, whether it was truly from the weather, Hinata thought, or from her father's personality.

"Hinata," her father said slowly, watching her make her entrance. She moved as carefully as she could, as if her every move was being examined and judged with the highest scrutiny.

"O-Oto-sama," she said, standing in front of him.

"Sit down, daughter," he said, gesturing for her to take a seat. She did. The floor was rigid, cold, and uncomfortable.

"Oto-sama, I-I've come t-to tell you something important," she stammered, "I-I've come to tell you about…w-what I've decided for my future…I want to say…"

"Hinata," her father interrupted, "I've told you before…I won't allow you to return to this house under my care unless you can _prove _to me that you are indeed strong enough."

"I _know _t-that," Hinata said, "I've come to tell y-you that…t-that…I _am _strong. I am strong enough!"

Her father gave her a bemused look. "Really?" he said, "From what I hear of it, you've been spending your time doing _frivolous _things. News has reached me that you won some sort of contest, allowing you a trip to some _chocolate _factory. Is this true?"

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond.

"It w-was in the n-newspaper…y-yes, I mean, yes…I did." She managed. "Oh, I have someone w-who can t-tell you a-about h-how I've become s-stronger. He's right b-behind me…"

Hinata turned around to look through the open door behind her where Wonka-san had stood waiting. Her mouth fell open.

Wonka-san was on his knees playing a clapping game with her younger sister, Hanabi Hyuuga. The two were clapping their hands together and chanting along. _"Who can take a rainbow," _they sang as they clapped, _"wrap it in a sigh, cover it with chocolate and then serve it with a smile, the candymaaaaaaan, oh the candyman can!"_

"H-Hanabi!" Hiashi yelled across the room. "What are you doing!"

"Playing a game," she called, her attention still at on Wonka-san.

"S-stop it!" Hiashi cried. "You're too old to be doing something like this nonsense!"

"Oto-_san!_" she called, giving him an irritated look, "You never let me have any fun!" she stood up and bowed to Wonka-san. "Thanks for playing, I'll see you later, ne?" she whispered to him. He nodded and smiled as she ran off.

"Who are you?" Hiashi Hyuuga called out to Wonka-san as he stood in the doorway.

"Who, me?" he asked playfully, pointing to himself. "Well…let me think. I suppose I'm the frivolous chocolate man that your daughter went to see today. Ooh, I'm also the man who, let me think, saw your daughter act with both compassion and kindness to others today as well." Wonka-san was now walking slowly towards where Hiashi was sitting.

"Oh," he continued, "and I'm pretty sure that I'm the guy who saw your daughter resist a major temptation in order to defend her friends, and I do believe I'm the hip groovy cat who witnessed your little girl come between two very angry shinobi and disarm them both, as well as convince them to follow a path of peacefulness."

By now, Wonka-san was standing right over the table near Hiashi. He took a seat right in front of him, then proceeded to lean over the table.

"Oh, and between you and me," he whispered to Hiashi, just loud enough for Hinata to hear, "I'm the shinobi who observed your little kunoichi perform the 'Hakke Rokujuyon Sho', which, if I'm not mistaken, is a high level technique only possessed by strong shinobi of the Hyuuga clan!"

Hiashi Hyuuga looked into the eyes of the man across from him.

"You _saw _this?" he asked defiantly.

"Oh yeah," Wonka-san said calmly, "totally. She landed a successive sixty four powerful palm blows on a ninja who had to be _twice, _if not _three _times as skilled as her!"

Hiashi turned to Hinata, his eyes wide.

"Hinata," he asked, "is this all _true!_"

Hinata nodded. "Hai, Oto-sama."

Hiashi Hyuuga sat back, letting his legs relax a little from his tense crouched position. He gave a small smile to his daughter.

"This…" he said, "…is _indeed _good news."

Hinata smiled.

* * *

Hinata walked confidently along the hall of the Hyuuga mansion, Wonka-san close behind. She wore a big smile on her face and her eyes were cheery.

"Well, that went well, wouldn't you agree?" Wonka-san said to her.

"Hai," she answered, "much better than I _ever _could have expected! Oto-sama told me that I can return and live in his house with him anytime I want!"

"I don't see why you'd want to," Wonka-san said, giving a bit of a shiver. "Such a cold and drafty old house. That place could use a bit of livening up!"

Hinata laughed. "He also agreed to your proposal as well!"

Wonka-san smiled. "_That…_was what impressed me. I wasn't sure whether he would agree or not, but I'm ever so happy that he did. Thing's are going to get much better now!"

The two of them walked out of the mansion and into the frosty air where they were met by the roaring sound of laughter. They looked out to see Naruto running up to them.

"Oi! Wonka-san! What did you _do!_" Naruto cried as he approached them. Hinata was confused and asked him what he meant. He pointed over near the great glass elevator. Hinata gasped in surprise.

She saw her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, rolling on the ground in absolute peals of laughter. She could see his normally grim face, totally alive with laughter, his eyes squinted shut as he continued to wheeze and titter and chuckle, right before roaring in laughter again.

"Oh my goodness! What's wrong with him?" Hinata cried.

"Nothing!" Wonka-san said reassuringly. "He looks like he's enjoying himself quite thoroughly. Though I'm not sure what the source of all this comedy is. I gave him a piece of Wonka brand Laffy Taffy, which I thought would lift his spirits a bit. I certainly see that it has."

They approached the elevator and looked at Neji, who had gotten up and staggered towards them. He gave a clap to Hinata's shoulder and held his side in laughter. "H-Hinata-sama (chuckle), It's so good to see you again! (guffaw) And Naruto! (hee hee) You're just as funny as _ever!_" he finished this sentence with a mighty laugh. He then turned and ran towards his house, leaving Hinata and Naruto quite surprised.

"Whoa…" Naruto said.

"Wonka-san," Hinata asked, "he's not going to be like that _forever, _is he?"

"No, of course not," said Wonka-san, "the effects of the candy will wear off in about ten minutes or so. I just thought that the boy could use a laugh, don't you?"

The three of them chuckled for a minute. Then, Wonka-san's face turned serious again.

"Hinata," he said, "I'm quite glad that I was able to help you with your father."

Hinata smiled, "I can't thank you enough!" she said.

"Well, actually, I was wondering…if maybe you would do me a favour." He said.

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond at first. There was something that Willy Wonka-san would ask _her _for help with? She looked at him and nodded.

"You see, I'm glad that I was able to help you with your father, but it has reminded me of my own family problems…you see, I have a father much like yours. We are alike in many ways. I haven't seen my dad in, like, forever, and I was wondering if…I mean, if you're not doing anything, if you'd…wanna help me go and see him."

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Of course! I'll go with you to see your father!"

"So will I!" added Naruto.

Wonka-san's face lit up with excitement. "Really! You guys would do that for _me? _Wow! Thanks a million!" he grinned a very large grin and opened the doors to the great glass elevator, inviting the two of them inside.

"We'd better get a move on! The day is almost through, and this is the biggest, most importantest thing yet!" he cried.

Pushing yet another button, the doors closed and the elevator rocketed upward into the sky. Hinata took a deep breath, thinking about all that had happened in such a short while. Not only had she been given an entire chocolate factory, but she had also made amends with her father at last. She could only guess at what Wonka-san had in store for her and Naruto next.


	21. 21: Cat's in the Cradle

_Author's Note: Alright, this next chapter will require a bit of imagination on your part as the reader. I'm sure I'll be getting a few reviews arguing with me that I've portrayed characters completely out of their normal behavior and attitudes. I remind these reviewers that they're reading a fan fiction of Naruto crossed with _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. _If you've read this far and are still expecting character coherence with the series…perhaps you'd be better off reading something else. For everyone else, enjoy!_

**21: Cat's in the Cradle**

Hinata watched as the great glass elevator began to descend once again towards the ground. They had traveled across the continent in almost a half hour, which was faster than anything Hinata could imagine. She peered out the glass of the elevator's wall, which was now fogged up. She wiped away some of the condensation to get a better view of their surroundings and where they were landing.

She saw that they were landing in a forest clearing. The entire area was covered in a thick blanket of white snow. Up ahead, she saw an enormous building; it looked like an ancient mansion owned by a feudal lord. She saw that despite its size and elegance, the place was in poor condition, looking very dilapidated. The walls were worn and falling apart, the roof tiles chipped and broken. It looked like no one had lived in the place for at least a few decades.

"Wonka-san," Hinata breathed, "Is that it? Is that where we're meeting your father?"

Wonka-san looked through the clear patch of glass Hinata had wiped clean. Hinata saw Wonka-san swallow nervously as he looked towards the giant dwelling. "Yeah." He mumbled, "that's…probably it." It seemed to Hinata that Wonka-san was quite nervous about the prospect of meeting his father. She felt encouraged by the fact that her own meeting with her father had gone so smoothly, thanks to Wonka-san. She knew that she'd do everything she could to return the favour.

"Sugoi…" Naruto gasped, "what a big place! Too bad it looks so crappy."

Hinata gave him a concerned look. She leaned over and whispered to him, "Naruto-kun, that's Wonka-san's _father's _house. You shouldn't call it crappy, it's disrespectful."

"Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered back, "look at the place, how can someone live in that house. It's falling apart everywhere."

"Oooh, I like to whisper too," Wonka-san's voice snuck in out of the corner of both of the Genin's ears, "It's okay to call that place crappy, Hinata. To be honest, it's a crappy place." He whispered to them.

Then, with a bit of a _thump, _the great glass elevator landed. Wonka-san pushed a button and the doors slid open, letting the three of them out and into the snow. They walked out a bit, breathing in the cold air. Hinata felt the inside of her nose freeze as she took in the chilly air. Wonka-san turned around to face Naruto and gave him a telling smile.

"Say, Naruto," he said in a singsong voice, "You wouldn't mind…"

"Hai, hai," he cut Wonka-san off, sighing a bit. "I'll watch the elevator." He looked to Hinata and gave her a warm smile. "Be sure to look out for him and take care of yourself. Say hi to Wonka's father for me!"

Hinata smiled back and nodded. With that, the two of them began to walk towards the old mansion. Soon, an entranceway came into view. It was a large set of steps, which went down deep into the earth, the back of it shrouded in darkness. Hinata felt a little unnerved as she walked closer and closer to the entrance. Perhaps it was the darkness, or it could have been that Wonka-san seemed nervous as well, but Hinata began to feel that maybe going into this house wasn't such a good idea after all.

"It's…not too late to turn back…" Wonka-san said, as if reading her mind. He gave her a bit of an uneasy glance.

Hinata shook her head and gave a bit of a smile. "Y-you went out of your way to help make things right with me and my father. I o-owe you the s-same. We're going to meet him, even if it means going inside." She said as bravely as she could manage.

Wonka-san gave her a grin, the two held each other's hands, and started down the entrance steps.

* * *

It turned out that the mansion's exterior was slightly deceiving.

No matter how large it had appeared on the outside, Hinata figured that it had to be _twice _as large on the inside. She and Wonka-san were walking down what she thought had to be the twelfth corridor since they had descended down the stairs. The corridors were stonework with fiery torches adorning the walls. Hinata couldn't be sure, but she guessed that they were deep underground. Each corridor felt lower and deeper than the last. She held onto Wonka-san's hand tightly as he led her along.

"Wonka-san," Hinata said to the man as they walked, "a-are you sure you know where you are going? We've been walking f-for quite a while now."

"Of course I do," he said in a chipper voice. "I'm absolutely, positively, definitely, pretty sure that we're going the right way."

This statement didn't make Hinata feel any better. She found herself reminding herself of the promise that she made to him. Along with a smidgen of curiosity, it was the only thing keeping her with him in such a dark and spooky place.

At that moment, they had reached a very large and winding staircase leading upward. The stairs were made of an old and musty wood that Hinata thought probably wasn't very sturdy. The thought of going up made her legs quiver. Wonka-san took a torch off of the wall and raised it into the air. It illuminated a bit of the staircase's path, which twisted up a great distance into the air. Hinata imagined that it could take them all the way up to the surface, and then some.

"I believe that he must climb up, Hinata" Wonka-san said. Hinata swallowed hard, wishing that there were an easier way.

"A-are you sure?" she asked halfheartedly. Wonka-san nodded, held her hand tightly, and began to climb the stairs. Hinata followed along, hoping and praying.

The wooden stairs creaked under her feet, but they seemed sturdy enough to Hinata. They were holding their weight without bowing or buckling. Despite this, they were still quite intimidating. Wonka-san said to her, "Try not to look down. The sight will turn your legs to jelly. Try to take your mind off of it," he continued, "Why don't you try to think of some of the things you'll do at the factory. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?"

Hinata agreed with him. She made quite sure not to look down, and began to focus her mind on Wonka-san's factory. Memories from earlier that day came back to her: waiting anxiously at the gates with Naruto, wishing for them to open, riding with Naruto on Wonka-san's great ship down the chocolate river, holding Naruto's hand as they left the Inventing Room, Riding with Naruto in the great glass elevator, and hugging him after she had dispatched Souya-kun. It wasn't until they were almost halfway up the massive staircase that Hinata realized that _all _of her favourite memories from the day had included Uzumaki Naruto. She smiled and wondered if she'd ever be able to tell him how she _really _felt about him.

"Almost there, I think," Wonka-san said. Hinata saw that there was a faint light coming from the top of the staircase.

"Where exactly _is _there?" Hinata asked him. "Where are you going?"

"Up there," Wonka-san pointed, "there should be a library tower. A great storeroom of knowledge and interesting and boring facts compiled in shelves upon shelves of books."

"A-and," Hinata said, "is that where you think your father will be?"

Wonka-san didn't answer right away. "It might be…" he said at last, his voice low.

"Did you ever get along with your father?" Hinata asked.

"Not really," he said, "we were very different people back then. My father…he was similar to yours, I suppose. He was always obsessed with whether I was strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough. I left home when I was…probably just a year or so older than you are now."

"What did your father think when you told him you were going to be a chocolateer?" Hinata asked, now quite interested.

"Feh," Wonka-san snorted, "he went crazy! It was the reason that I left. The man hated chocolate, and everything it stood for…" Wonka-san began to trail off. There was a moment where neither of them spoke. Finally, Hinata decided to break the silence.

"I'm sure you'll be able to make amends with him," she said at last, "you helped me reach _my _father, I'm sure we'll be able to get through to _yours _too."

"I'm ever so glad to hear you say that," Wonka-san smiled, and then he stared off into the distance. "I wonder what's become of him, after all these years…"

At long last, Hinata and Wonk-san had reached the top of the staircase. As they climbed the final stair, there was a cloaked man sitting in a chair beside a door. Hinata jumped when she saw him. The shrouded person's cloak was a light purple colour, tattered and frayed. The man's head was hidden behind a large hood. He seemed to be asleep in the chair (Hinata _hoped _he was asleep).

Wonka-san moved quietly across the way to the door, avoiding the sitting man as much as he could. He reached the door and moved his hand to slide it open when…

"And where do you think you're going?" a voice called from the side. Hinata looked over to see the cloaked figure had raised his head. His face was covered in a white, ceramic mask in the shape of a cat's face. Hinata gasped, the mask was the tell tale trait of an ANBU shinobi. The masked figure looked up at Wonka-san, continuing to sit. "May I ask who _you two _are?" the voice was gender neutral. Now Hinata couldn't tell whether it was a high voiced man or a deep sounding woman. There was something oddly _familiar _about the sound of this mysterious person's voice, as if she had heard it before somewhere.

"My name is Willy Wonka, this is my friend and business associate, Hinata Hyuuga." Wonka-san said matter-of-factly to the masked man. "We are here to see my father. Please do not try to impede us." He added at the end.

The cloaked man chuckled in his chair. The laugh sent a small shiver down Hinata's spine.

"I would do nothing of the sort," the masked man said reassuringly to Wonka-san, "he is expecting you within. Please," he gestured towards the door, "go right in."

Wonka-san looked back to Hinata, who had been waiting at the steps, to follow him. She quickly went to him and proceeded to the door. All the while she could almost feel the masked man's gaze upon her. Wonka-san opened the door and led her inside. As she entered, Hinata couldn't shake the feeling that she had met that man before…

* * *

The room Hinata entered wasn't at _all _like the rest of the mansion that she had seen. It was a tall, cylindrical room much like the staircase. It was far better lit than the others, however, as there were many tall windows along the walls; the sun beaming in through them. Hinata shielded her eyes as she walked in; the doorway was in the middle of a sunbeam.

Like Wonka-san had guessed, it was indeed a library of some sort. There were shelves upon shelves of books in this room along the walls. It looked as though there were three open floors to this room; each one's walls were lined with books. Hinata peered over to the side and saw ladders, which ran up to the second floor. The room was also exceptionally dusty. It coated the floor and bookshelves; it floated in the air, catching the sun through the windows.

"Well, I guess nobody's here, why don't we leave!" Wonka-san said to Hinata so quickly she barely caught it. He turned around and started towards the door. Hinata shouted, "Wonka-san! C'mon, you've come this far…let's see it through." Slowly, he turned around and continued forward with her. Suddenly a voice called up from above:

"Hello," the voice called, "what brings the two of you into my humble study?" The voice was coming from the highest level of the room as far as Hinata could tell. She couldn't quite tell where it was coming from though, aside from above.

"H-hello!" Wonka-san called up. "It's me…"

The voice didn't answer for a while, it remained silent, until, "And who might "me" _be?_ I can't say I recognize your voice, nor your attire." It said at last.

Wonka-san's eyes screwed up. Hinata saw that he was growing somewhat cross. "It's _me!_" he shouted up at the voice. "My name is Willy Willibus Wonka!"

The voice from above gave a bit of a chuckle. "_Ah…Willy _Wonka…now _there's _a name that brings me back…I must say, you're a bit late."

Hinata wasn't sure what to say or do. She felt somewhat out of place in this conversation between Wonka-san and a mysterious voice. She didn't know whether she should try and say something or not. She just continued to keep silent.

"Oh," the voice came again, "your friend down there looks as if she's got nothing to do. You may tell her to wander about if she wishes. I dare say our talk will be a bit sophisticated for someone so young."

Hinata jumped in surprise at the voice mentioning her. She looked over to Wonka-san, wondering what she should do. He looked over to her and shrugged, then gestured for her to go look around. She nodded and began to take in the sights of the room around her.

"Now then," the voice said, "what brings you back after all of these years?"

Hinata saw many books, their spines adorned with symbols and languages that she couldn't understand. All of them were thick and very dusty. She walked over to a table positioned near a window. The table seemed to have several pieces of paper strewn across it. She went to take a look. Her eyes widened in surprise.

Scattered on the table were yellowed newspaper clippings, as well as some leather-bound books Hinata recognized as scrapbooks. Hinata glanced over the clippings and flipped over the pages. Hinata could hear Wonka-san talking to the voice, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. The articles had titles like: _GENIUS CANDYMAKER OPENS FACTORY IN FIRE COUNTRY, WONKA SENS AID TO SUNAGAKURE, CHOCOLATEER RE-OPENS FABLED FACTORY, _and _SUCCESS: THE WONKA STORY._ Hinata couldn't believe her eyes. Wonka-san's father _was _keeping track of him. She ran over to Wonka-san to tell him what she'd found. She tugged on his sleeve.

"Wonka-san!" she cried. "Over here, you have to see!"

Wonka-san brushed her off and looked defiantly up towards the third floor. "And to think that you'd use your old name, _Urami H'coro!_" he said.

Hinata stood beside Wonka-san, confused. Did he just say his father's name was _Urami H'coro! _Visions of the shady man flew through Hinata's mind. She listened intently on the two's conversation.

"Why did you send that little boy to steal my invention?" Wonka-san asked the man above. "What purpose could you have had!"

"Ah, little Souya-kun," the voice laughed. "I hope he's alright. I take it his performance was a bit over the top. Believe me, the boy wasn't meant to actually steal an invention, but to draw your attention to _me._"

"But!" Hinata interrupted. "You spoke to _me _as well! What's going on here!"

"Ah yes," the man said, his presence was still unseen. "I thought you looked familiar. Hinata Hyuuga of the Leaf Village. Let me clarify, I tempted you because, like Wonka here, I believed you might be a good candidate for his succession."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Wonka-san shouted. "_Nothing _you've just told me makes any sense! It's complete and utter doo doo!"

"Ah, I suppose you're right…" the man said. Hinata got the distinct impression that she had missed a very crucial bit of information. "But that doesn't matter now," he continued, "what matters is that you're here now."

"Wonka-san!" Hinata tugged on his coat again, "Who _is _this person!"

Wonka-san looked up towards the ceiling as he answered. His voice was neither angry nor content.

"My father. Known as one of the greatest shinobi on the entire continent. Often adopting the alias of Urami H'coro to hide his true identity to the public. Since I heard little Souya Ikari say his name, I knew I had to see my father again, to find out what it all meant…"

He looked down at Hinata and continued softly.

"My father's alias…such a simple play on words…perhaps its simplicity is why nobody had figured it out at the time. It's just his _real _name spelt backwards…Urami H'coro…_Orochimaru._"

Hinata felt the blood rush from her face. She looked upwards and saw the figure behind the voice.

* * *

Finally coming into the sunlight, Hinata stared up and recognized the Bingo book S-class felon immediately. She must have seen his picture on wanted posters every day when she was younger. He was wearing a light toned shirt with an enormous purple belt around his waist that resembled a piece of large cord. He had long black hair, which came down past his shoulders. His pasty grey face stared down at them, his eyes yellow with slits for pupils, like a cat's eyes. He was grinning down at them.

"_Him!_" Hinata gasped. "_He's _your father!"

"Him?" Wonka-san said, giving a small, geeky laugh, "Oh yeah, that's him alright. Mr. 'I'm such a powerful ninja I can go about doing a really crappy job of raising my son!'."

"Willy-kun," Orochimaru said in a bemused tone, he began to climb down a ladder towards the same floor as Hinata and Wonka-san. "Your words cut me to the quick."

"Yeah, well," Wonka-san said defiantly, "You _were! _I worked like a _slave _trying to impress you, and when I finally found my true calling in life, you _shunned _me!"

By now, Orochimaru had reached the ground. He began to slowly walk towards Wonka-san. Hinata noticed there was something odd about his eyes, aside from their colour and shape.

"Willy…I remember…" he said slowly.

"I _hated _you," Wonka-san said desperately, "for _so _long. I tried to go against everything you taught me, because I didn't believe any of it!"

"I can see that…" Orochimaru answered. Hinata noticed him walking slowly closer and closer to Wonka-san. They were about two meters away from each other.

"I…I…" Wonka-san said quietly, "I just wanted…I wanted you to be satisfied…to be _proud _of me."

"Willy…" Orochimaru said as he gave a weak sort of smile. "Your mother…" Wonka-san looked up at him now, his eyes wide. "…Your mother…was _right. _Rest her soul, she was right about you. I should _never _have raised you the way I did…I wanted you to be strong…I thought, that if you were stronger, you'd be able to take care of yourself…but I suppose I pushed to hard…"

"Yeah," Wonka-san scoffed, "_that's _an understatement!"

"Willy, I'm sorry…I'm not proud of what I did…I…I just want to apologize…" Hinata had backed away from the two of them, retreating to a corner. She looked closely at Orochimaru, realizing what was wrong with his eyes. They had seemed blurry before, as if something was obscuring them. Then, as she saw something fall down his pale cheek, she realized…

He's _crying, _she thought to herself. He was _actually _crying. Hinata could see the stray tears falling down his face. By now, she saw that the two men were standing face-to-face, not even a foot away from each other.

"Willy-kun," Orochimaru said, "I…I want you to know…that I've _always _been proud of you…no matter what you decided to do. You've become a big success…I just wish that I'd have had more faith back then…"

"…Oto-san…" Wonka-san mumbled.

The two of them stood in front of each other for a very long time. Finally, The two of them rigidly reached out, and awkwardly hugged one another. Soon, their embrace became less rigid and more comfortable. When they parted, the two of them faced each other, smiling, tears running down one another's cheeks.

"You know," Orochimaru said at last, "you're much _taller _than I remember."

Wonka-san smiled.

"It's the hat," he said.

"I do believe we should part now," Orochimaru said, taking a step back. "I do believe that young Hinata-san here is quite scared of me. It would be best if you brought her home. She has a big future ahead of her…"

Wonka-san turned to Hinata and smiled. "I do believe you're right." He gave his father one last glance, then walked over to where Hinata was standing. He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to see her. "Hey, let's get going, okay?" he said warmly.

Hinata could only nod.

The two of them left the library room and, upon exiting, found that a new door had appeared almost out of nowhere. The cloaked man with the mask was nowhere to be found. Wonka-san opened the new door to reveal a snowy path that lead right to the great glass elevator, which stood a short distance away. Hinata could just make out Naruto, leaning against it. The two of them headed out.

"Wonka-san," Hinata said quietly as they walked towards the elevator. "I-I want to say that I-I'm sorry. Even after all the things you said about me…being brave and all…I couldn't do anything to help you with your father…" she sniffled a bit.

"Don't worry Hinata," he said in a warm voice, "even though you may not have noticed it, I think you did a splendid job. I should be _thanking _you."

"Oh no," Hinata protested, "I r-really didn't do anythi-"

"Hinata, please. You may not notice it, but at times you do inspire a fair amount of courage in those around you." He walked past her towards the elevator. He looked back as he did and said, "After all, I would have never gotten through that if not for you."

Hinata blushed a bit and tried to keep up, the elevator close by.

It had certainly been an interesting day.


	22. 22:The End of the Day

**22: What Happened at the End of the Day**

Dusk had begun to settle over Konoha. The sun was just about set and the air was peaceful. A good portion of the snow had melted during the afternoon. Grass once again began to peek out from the melting blanket of white snow.

Yuuhi Kurenai sat out by the woods. Her A-rank mission with the other Jounin had just ended, and she had gone to see if Hinata and Naruto had returned from Wonka-san's factory. She had asked around, but people had told her that all of the other children who'd also had already left the village, and Hinata was nowhere to be found. Now she sat outside the woods, which served as her team's meeting place, hoping that Hinata would return safely.

"I wonder…" she said to herself, "what Hinata was able to see in that…amazing place." She smiled and let her imagination take over. She had done the best she could have during her mission to block thoughts of Hinata and the factory from her mind, knowing they would only prove to be a distraction. But now that it was over, she was free to indulge in a bit of daydreaming. She hoped she would see Hinata soon.

All of the sudden, a breeze had kicked up. Kurenai shivered in the cold. She looked up, and something caught her eye. She saw something moving in the sky that wasn't a bird. _Far too big to be a bird, _she thought to herself, but what _was _it? She squinted her eyes at the sky, trying to make the object out.

Suddenly, she found that it was growing quite rapidly. Whatever the thing was, it was _big, _and it was headed right towards her. In a matter of moments, the object was almost upon her. The sight of it completely baffled her. It looked like some sort of box…made entirely of _glass! _Inside of it, she saw someone she thought she recognized. Suddenly it occurred to her, and she shouted out…

* * *

"Hinata!" Kurenai shouted as they landed.

Hinata was overjoyed to see that her sensei had waited for her. She looked at Wonka-san impatiently, waiting for him to open the doors so she could see her. The top hat wearing man smiled at her and did exactly what she wished for him to do. Naruto and Hinata leaped out of the great glass elevator and towards Kurenai.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata shouted as she ran up to her. "K-Kurenai-sensei!"

"Hinata! Naruto! You two are back! Whatever _is _this thing! Where were you two? Who's this?" Kurenai pointed to Wonka-san, who was still inside the elevator. Hinata wasn't sure she could answer all of her questions at once.

"Kurenai-sensei, why don't you sit down, we'll tell you all about it." Hinata said happily.

So Kurenai sat and Hinata began to tell the tale of what had happened throughout their day. All of the wonderful things they had seen, how each of the other children had some way or another, been excluded from the final prize, and how Hinata had been the winner out of the five children. Kurenai took all of this in, not interrupting at all, until…

"W-wait!" she said abruptly, staring at the man across from her. "This…" she pointed to him, "is Willy Wonka-san?"

Wonka-san smiled. "Indeed I am." He said with a little bow.

Kurenai's smile quivered ever so slightly. She got up and walked towards him a bit.

"I remember…I saw you once! When your factory opened again! You were a young man wearing a top hat, giving candy bars to all of us children…" she said breathlessly.

"Ah, and I remember _you,_" Wonka-san smiled, "a small child with rich dark hair and red eyes. I remember you were exceptionally fond of my chocolate at the time. I see that you've grown up since then," he said dreamily, Kurenai blushed a severe pink colour when he mentioned this, "and I must say that you've filled out nicely as well!"

Kurenai's blush deepened about a few shades of pink, and couldn't help but laugh. She giggled at Wonka-san's crude compliment, then asked Hinata to continue.

"Well," Hinata said again, "after we left the factory, Wonka-san told me that I had won something. He told me I'd won his _entire chocolate factory!_"

Kurenai laughed again, "Hinata, don't be silly, what did you _really _win?" she asked, chuckling.

"But sensei," Hinata protested, "It's really true! Wonka-san has made me his heir to the company!"

Kurenai's mouth dropped open. She turned to Wonka-san for some explanation.

"It's quite true. We even went so far as to discuss the matter with Hinata's father, whom we were very adamant with. He's agreed completely to our terms."

Kurenai wasn't sure what shocked her more, the fact that Hinata had won an entire chocolate factory, or the fact that she had confronted her father about something. She listened as Hinata continued.

"Once I've come of age," Hinata said, "when I've completed my shinobi training, I'll be running the factory with Wonka-san all the time!"

Kurenai felt that all of what everyone was saying was _far _too much information for her to digest in one evening. Still, she couldn't hold back her joy, either. She grabbed Hinata and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, Hinata," she said, holding the girl tightly, "I'm so _proud _of you! This is the most incredible and fantastic thing that's ever happened to you! It's phenomenal!"

"K-K-Kurenai-sensei," Hinata gasped, "You're holding me to tight, I c-can't breath!" With that, Kurenai released her student and beamed at her. Wonka-san began to stand and head towards the elevator.

"Well, this has certainly been an adventure," he said happily, smiling on the two children and their teacher. "but, like all things, this day must come to an end. I'm afraid I have a tremendous amount of work to do back at the factory. Many people need to be contacted about today's happenings."

Hinata looked at him as he stood in front of the elevator.

"When will I see you again?" she asked.

"Oh, sooner or later," he smiled.

"Wait," Kurenai cried as Wonk-san was about to step in, "you're _leaving? _B-but it's so late! W-won't you at least stay for some dinner? It doesn't sound like any of you have eaten today, aside from candy." Kurenai blushed as she made this proposal.

"Sorry, but I cannot stay…" he said mournfully, but then his eyes perked up, "…_but, _I'd be happy to have _you _over for dinner. Perhaps I could give you a small tour of the factory before you leave. How does that sound?"

Kurenai couldn't contain how she felt. Hinata watched as her teacher gave a great cry of joy and walked along to join Wonka-san. The two linked arms and stepped into the elevator.

"Until next time!" Wonka-san said to Naruto and Hinata. He then pushed a button on the elevator wall and the doors slid shut. A moment later, the elevator was off the ground and hovering through the air back towards the factory. Naruto and Hinata called out their goodbyes and waved as it left.

"Sayonara!" Hinata cried, waving as hard as she could.

"Goodbye! Take care of Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto laughed as he waved.

The two genins stood just outside of the forest, watching the great glass elevator rise into the sky…until it passed out of sight.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata stood in front of the forest for a while afterwards. They didn't say anything to each other or look at each other. Hinata finally worked up the nerve to speak.

"W-well," she stammered, "I-I g-guess I'll head home now, it was good to see you again, goodbye!" then, she turned on her heel and started to walk away.

"Wha? Wait, hold on a minute!" Naruto called after her, "Kurenai was right, w-would you like to go get something to eat with me? It'll be my treat."

Hinata turned around and smiled nervously. "Um…t-that's quite alright, I'm not all that hungry and…"

Naruto had cut her off, "Hinata," he said, walking up to her, "I…I really wanted to thank you for today, letting me come with you and all, I had an amazing time with you, a-and I wanted to say that it meant a lot to me."

Hinata wasn't sure what to make of what Naruto was saying, she nodded and fiddled with her fingers. "I-It was no problem," she said, "I-I had a really great time as well. I-I'm very glad that you were able to come along with me. I-It…" she mumbled, "It meant a lot to me too…"

Hinata could see that Naruto was now very close to her, she looked down, not wanting to let him see her blush. It was then that she saw that his hands were trembling. She looked up to him, "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata-chan," he said slowly, "w-what I want to say is…well…what I mean is…" he began to trail off.

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. She swallowed hard, remembering the words that Wonka-san had told her. She couldn't bear it anymore. She knew that it was now or never. She screwed up her eyes and stammered the words.

"N-Naruto-kun, I really like you!"

…

…every second seemed like an eternity for Hinata. She finally opened her eyes to see Naruto's shocked face. All at once, she immediately regretted what she'd said. _Oh no, _she thought, _he must think I'm a total fool!_

"Naruto-kun, wha-what I-I mean t-to say is…"

"I really like you too, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata's eyes widened. She stared at Naruto, who had begun to smile. She noticed his hands were still shaking. "Y-you, really _like _me?" she asked.

"I do!" he said earnestly, "I've been trying to tell you the whole day, but I couldn't work up the nerve to…a-and," he looked at her, "you like _me too?_"

Hinata couldn't help herself, it all just started coming out.

"I do! I've liked you for as long as I can remember! You were always such a strong person to me, Naruto-kun. I've wanted to tell you how I feel about you forever…" she said breathlessly.

Naruto moved up to Hinata, and she felt his arms wrap around her body. She felt the warmth of him holding her. She brought her arms up as well and embraced him. She felt his cheek brush against hers. She didn't want this moment to end.

Finally, the two let go of each other, but remained very close. Naruto looked to her and gave Hinata the smile that she admired so much. She smiled back at him, the biggest smile she had ever given.

"Ano, would it be okay if I took you up on your offer for dinner?" she said at last.

Naruto laughed.

"Of course. How does ramen sound? I know a place that serves the best in Konoha. I think you might know it too." He continued to grin.

"It sounds really good." Hinata said happily, "But we should go and have something sweet afterwards. Is that alright?"

"It sounds perfect." Naruto replied.

The two held hands, and walked away from the forest and into town. The sun was just setting as they did, giving the entire village a perfect orange glow for just a moment.

In the end, Hinata Hyuuga had won a chocolate factory, but she had _also _gained so much more. One thing was certain for both Hinata and Naruto: life had never been sweeter.

THE END

_Author's Final Note:_

_Oh man…my fingers…I think they're bleeding…oh…well, I hope you've enjoyed reading "Hinata and the Chocolate Factory" as much as I did writing it. I'm pretty satisfied with the overall ending, and while I'm sure there are a few loose ends/plot holes that haven't been tied up, I'm also sure that in the long run, they aren't that important._

_I'd like to thank my friends, Nayo-Chan, Sorien, Hatake Hiroshi, and Kirigakure from the Konoha Village proboards, as well as all of the wonderful people at who left me reviews. I've loved reading them and they continually encouraged me to give this fan fiction my all. Thank you._

_Finally, I'd like to say that this work of fan fiction was a labour of love, and that it wouldn't have been truly possible if not for the original creators (Roald Dahl and Masashi Kishamoto), as well as Johnny Depp for his wonderful portrayal of Willy Wonka in the 2005 film version. Johnny, whether you know it or not, this fic is for you._

_Now…I think I'm going to go eat some chocolate if you don't mind _

_Kiel Chenier, August 8, 2005_


End file.
